Small-scale Irrigation (SSI) in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Why and the How --drawing on ILSSI and other SSI activities

Transcription

1 Small-scale Irrigation (SSI) in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Why and the How --drawing on ILSSI and other SSI activities Claudia Ringler Deputy Division Director, International Food Policy Research Institute Pathways to policy change on water in agriculture An OECD European Commission workshop, Brussels February 20-21, 2018

2 WHY? Irrigation plays a key role in agri-food systems Less than one-third of the world s harvested land is irrigated, BUT irrigated crop areas generate 40% of global food production Total harvested area by region, 2010 and projected 2030 (million ha) 90% of total projected increase in irrigation is expected to be in developing countries Source: Ringler 2017

3 WHY? Relatively low levels of irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa 350 Total harvested area in 2015, by region (million ha) East Asia and the Pacific South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Latin America and the Caribbean North America Former Soviet Union Europe Middle East and North Africa 2015 Irrigated 2015 Rainfed Source: IFPRI IMPACT 2018

4 WHY? Irrigation in SSA will be critical for SDG 2 (1) Increase in number of people at risk of hunger in 2030 and 2050, with no irrigation investment beyond maintaining 2015 area (%) East Asia and Pacific Latin America Middle East and North Africa South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Source: Ringler et al. 2018

5 WHY? Irrigation in SSA will be critical for SDG 2 (2) A comprehensive investment scenario (COMP) during at $52 bn/year, including $5 bn/year in irrigation, can reduce hunger to 5% in developing countries and 10% in Sub-Saharan Africa [relatively larger reduction] Source: IFRPI IMPACT Model 3.3

6 WHY? Small-scale irrigation in SSA is profitable Region Application area Net revenue Rural population reached Water consumption Capital investment ('000 ha) (US$ mill/yr) (mill people) (km3/yr) (US$ mill/yr) Central Africa Eastern and Indian Ocean countries Gulf of Guinea Southern Africa Sudano Sahelian region All Source: SSA IFRPI IMPACT Model Source: Xie et al. 2014

7 WHY? Irrigators are better off (Ex. Ethiopia) Variable Ethiopia Without Irrigation With Irrigation p-value Value of crop production in past year, USD $907 $2, Total land cultivated in rainy season, hectares Total land cultivated in dry season, hectares Total land holdings of household, hectares Distance to market where crops are sold, minutes HH Food Insecurity Access Scale TLU's owned HH produces starch HH produces pulse HH produces vegetables HH produces fruit N

8 WHY? Irrigators have better dietary scores Household food insecurity access scale, 0-27 Female dietary diversity score: number of categories consumed Household dietary diversity: number of food categories consumed Nonirrigators n=185 Ethiopia Tanzania Ghana Nonirrigatorirrigators Non- Irrigators Irrigators n=284 n=227 n=224 n=264 Mean Irrigators n=

9 WHY? Small-scale irrigation has multiple benefits SSI is economically feasible and has multiple benefits, repayment from 6 m to 2 yrs Spurred by technological development, particularly small motor pumps On-farm water management enhances benefits of SSI Can support value chain development Can be deployed faster, less geography dependent Reduces climate risks Addresses a range of SDGs (employment, income, nutrition, biodiversity, etc.) As a result, SSI is growing rapidly (albeit from a very low base)

10 HOW? Develop an enabling system that supports farmers to develop SSI SSI technologies need to be affordable continued innovation in technologies Technologies need to be accessible, requires access to (micro)finance SSI needs to be labor saving, particularly for women SSI profitability requires access to other agricultural inputs SSI profitability is dependent on market development and access SSI profitability is dependent on complementary rural infrastructure Photo Source: IWMI, Ethiopia

11 HOW? Need an entity in charge of management In many African governments, noone is truly responsible for small-scale irrigation; it falls between Ministries of Agriculture and Water; governments are often unclear of what their role would be, as no grey infrastructure investments or ribbons to be cut And a few overly constrain access of farmers to irrigation water (f.ex. by requiring a permit for every little water pump) Zero management will contribute to growing conflicts (small-scale irrigation has already constrained access to water by others and growing conflicts with pastoralists, in both dry seasons and drought years)

12 HOW? Need to measure in order to manage Potential area for irrigated onions, Ethiopia While there is an understanding that smallscale irrigation is larger in most SSA countries than large-scale irrigation, location and actual size are often only guesstimated Example: Ethiopia Ag Sample Survey suggests ha small-scale irrigation; while Ministry of Agriculture estimates around to 2.5 million ha of SSI Tools can now be developed to assess existing SSI area in the dry season, but do not yet exist Entities that are officially in charge of smallscale irrigation (someone generally has some kind of mandate, should strive to collect data and monitor development)

13 HOW? Increase access to information for farmers Irrigation is a risky business, particularly if combined with high-value crops and a new, i.e. dry season Marketing systems (price, buyer information, input supplier information, etc.) remain poorly developed Women farmers have much lower access to such information and are often not reached by traditional and modern information channels (extension services, agricultural associations, mobile phones) Traditional extension services have no capacity on providing intel on irrigation as relative share of irrigators is still low [while every farmer uses seed and more than half use some form of fertilizers]. Photo Source: IWMI, Ethiopia

14 HOW? Increase access to credit for SSI technologies Most MFIs are focused on providing credit that can be repaid in one season, and thus focus on seeds or fertilizers only Need to develop experience for multiseasonal loans; understanding of the risk reducing role of irrigation (and risks are only reduced if other inputs, such as fertilizers and pest management knowledge are available or can be obtained) Photo Credit: One Acre Fund

15 HOW? Introduce simple water management devices from the start Simple irrigation scheduling tools, such as wetting front detectors Increase yield Improve water productivity, do not necessarily save water Improve fertilizer use Reduce labor use (fewer applications) Reduce total costs

16 HOW? Link institutional change and governance mechanisms with technological change Rapid groundwater development (now accounting for approximately 40% of agricultural water consumption) was driven by technological change (individual water pumps and drilling technologies) Lack of governance systems for groundwater have contributed to groundwater mining and migration out of areas where groundwater is depleted, competition for groundwater is already starting in SSA even though most area has yet to be developed Groundwater governance mechanisms can be developed and can work if they involve local communities, but severe under-investment in this area as not of private sector interest & overall underinvestment in governance systems in Africa

17 Irrigation is important; it brings multiple benefits. Who does benefit and for how long depends on the policy choices of African governments, donors and investors