Creating fertile ground for innovation in agricultural water management

Smallholder farmers across the developing world are eager to seize the diverse advantages that improved water management practices can offer. Farm households that have access to irrigation generally fare better in terms of food security and dietary diversity than those that do not. Moreover, irrigation opens up new options for crop production during the long dry season in Africa and Asia, while also reducing damage caused by drought in the rainy season and providing water for multiple productive and domestic uses.

There is significant scope for investment in large-scale irrigation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where such schemes are limited, but they are not always suitable for particular settings.  In response, smallholders increasingly seek their own pathways to improved agricultural water management. In India, for example, pumps operated by smallholders serve 50% of the irrigated area. In many African countries, smallholders’ water management accounts for more irrigation than public sector schemes, in terms of the number of farmers involved, the area covered and the value of production (see figure).

There is enormous potential to ramp up the benefits through wider adoption of diverse practices. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa:

• - Increasing the number of small reservoirs could support an estimated 369 million rural people for irrigation and other uses, generating net revenues of USD 20 billion annually.
• - Expanding the quantity of motorized pumps could benefit 185 million people, with benefits of up to USD 22 billion per year.
• - Rainwater harvesting has the potential to reach 147 million people, generating net annual revenues by USD 9 billion per year.

The scope for increasing these benefits as well as the challenges involved and potential solutions are key messages that researchers from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) bring to the Water for Food International Forum – Farmer-led irrigated agriculture: Seeds of opportunity. Taking place on January 29-30 at The World Bank in Washington, D.C., the event was organized by the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska, USA, and The World Bank in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture and US Agency for International Development. IWMI researchers are giving particular attention to the role of improved technologies in boosting the potential of small-scale agricultural water management (see below a list of related links), including solar-powered pumps, which offer a more versatile, green alternative to electric pumps.

See more: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/2018/01/water-for-food-international-forum/

Figure: In many African countries, smallholders’ water management accounts for more irrigation than public sector schemes (Photo: IWMI)