Irrigation Infrastructure Needed to Secure Self-sufficiency in Food in Sub-Saharan Africa

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has largely been dependent upon rainfed agriculture for food production; and it has reached a limit in productivity to cater for the increasing population. This situation has resulted in the chronic instability of the economy and poverty in SSA. To achieve a breakthrough in food security, the authors proposed an agricultural strategy to meet the anticipated food requirement for the coming 30 years in SSA. Since the consolidation of the agricultural infrastructure is a prerequisite for the strategy, an appropriate irrigation policy was derived through several simulation trials. To secure self-sufficiency in food in the near future, about 16.8 million ha of land should be under irrigation by the year 2020, namely around 11 million ha of land must be newly provided with irrigation systems within 20 years. However, through irrigation alone a breakthrough in food security cannot be achieved. The total cultivation area must be increased at a rate of 1.286 million ha per annum, and the crop yields also must be raised at a rate of 65.1 kg/ha/y for irrigated crops and 21.5 kg/ha/y for rainfed crops. Thus, it was suggested that irrigation development should parallel the increase of the cultivation area and yield of rainfed crops more than ever in the region. The amount of regional water withdrawal required for the anticipated irrigation development was also estimated. Major constraints and issues to be considered for irrigation development in SSA were discussed.