Africa’s most glaring problem is its lack of irrigation, an essential food-growing requirement. Inadequate irrigation makes the country highly vulnerable to droughts, which can devastate crop production.
The 2018 report published by the Malabo Montpellier Panel of Agricultural Experts states that only 6% of cultivated land in Africa is irrigated, compared to 14% in Latin America and 37% in Asia.
According to African Business, irrigation is confined mainly to the continent’s north. Egyptian farmers have relied on irrigation from the Nile for thousands of years and in a few highly productive areas, such as South Africa’s Western Cape.
Rain-fed agriculture is risky for smallholder farmers, especially in areas with high rainfall variability. Reliance on rainfed agriculture contributes to the continent’s food insecurity, especially since droughts are getting more frequent and severe.
The good news is that solutions are at hand. The continent is known as the most sun-rich place globally, with an average annual irradiance of 60% higher than the global average.
Solar-powered pumps to strengthen irrigation
Solar-powered pumps are offered as a solution to help farmers. The challenge is scaling up this solution but not overlooking Africa’s smallholder farmers, who produce over 80% of the food consumed in Africa and rely on rain for irrigation.
Past attempts at leapfrogging African agriculture through irrigation development at scale failed because they focused on large-scale farms and largely ignored smallholder farmers, who comprise the majority of African farmers.
Another solution offered is drip irrigation technology powered by solar energy. Israel pioneered this modern drip irrigation system, which it invented in 1959. Drip irrigation is the most efficient innovation for growing crops because the system delivers the correct amount of water and nutrients directly to the plant’s roots at the right time so that the plant receives what it precisely requires for maximum growth.
An irrigation system study shows drip irrigation technology has the highest water efficiency rate in agriculture, reaching 70 to 80%, versus open irrigation, which achieves 40%.
While many African farmers have access to irrigation using diesel-powered pumps to extract water from boreholes or rivers and lakes, diesel-fueled pumps are highly polluting and costly due to rising diesel prices. Switching to irrigation technology offers a more efficient use of precious water while allowing African smallholder farmers to increase their yield.
Giacomo Falchetta, a research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, believes solar-powered pumps and irrigation have strong potential for Africa’s farmers. Although solar-powered pumps have higher upfront costs than diesel alternatives, they will be cheaper to operate in the long run.
Overcoming cost challenges for Africa’s farmers
Falchetta says the challenge is finding business models that allow users to spread the cost of installing solar irrigation. Several emerging companies, such as SunCulture, offer pay-as-you-go or leasing models.
The company aims to provide solar irrigation to hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers by 2030. It also offers its users tech-based services, including weather forecasting and advice on crop selection.
Access to irrigation infrastructure will be a game-changer for African farmers
Extending irrigation across sub-Saharan Africa is undoubtedly vital to raising rural incomes. However, the widespread access to irrigation can pose the risk of water waste in water-scarce and drought-prone regions. The key is to help farmers plan how they use irrigation more effectively.
African farmers can look to Israel’s example of how a desert country became a world-leading exporter of food. Still, for Africa to do this, it must first have access to irrigation and the financial support to achieve this.
According to Agra, access to irrigation in Africa can boost agricultural productivity by at least 50%.
Climate change is intensifying and prolonging droughts in Africa. More than 50 million people in the Horn of Africa region are classified as food insecure, mainly due to the drought in 2020. Fortunately, solutions are increasingly available.
Droughts, lack of irrigation, unpredictable rainfall patterns in Africa, and massive post-harvest food losses, despite abundant water resources, are why Africa is a net food importer. The country imports staple grains like wheat, maize (corn), and rice, mostly grown under irrigation in exporting countries such as the US, Ukraine, Brazil, Mexico, and Russia.
Access to irrigation will allow Africa to grow their food, become less reliant on food importation, decrease poverty, improve health, and increase prosperity.
Smart Irrigation Strategies for Africa, launched at the Malabo Montpellier Panel Forum, highlights success stories from six African countries where greater irrigation levels have led to better and longer harvests, higher incomes, and better prospects for farmers.
The Malabo Montpellier Panel report provides some recommendations on how to expand irrigation in Africa, which makes good business sense. Yields from irrigated crops are double or more of comparable rain-fed yields, and the benefits of expanding areas under irrigation are estimated to be double the costs under climate change. It notes that a strategy to realize Africa’s irrigation potential is to replicate and scale up successful interventions that have worked in African countries.
The report presents successful case studies of irrigation approaches and technologies implemented in six African countries. “The case studies have shown that success has been most effective where governments have made irrigation a top policy and investment priority – by creating conducive fiscal environments, providing supportive infrastructure, and deploying smart regulations.”
The report also says that “the countries analyzed have shown a growing role of the private sector in the design, development, and dissemination of innovative, smart technologies and business models in operating and maintaining facilities.
The experience of the six case study countries analyzed in this report can help other African governments develop country-specific strategies to increase resilience and improve livelihoods in Africa’s rural communities and beyond.”
Source:
Payton, B. (2024, April 29). Tackling Africa’s most neglected infrastructure problem. African Business. Retrieved from https://african.business/2024/04/resources/tackling-africas-most-neglected-infrastructure-problem
Chikomo, P. (2023, August 14). Africa’s smallholder farmers need access to irrigation technologies before 4IR agtech solutions can take off. AFN. Retrieved from https://agfundernews.com/africas-smallholder-farmers-need-access-to-irrigation-technologies-before-4ir-agtech-solutions-can-take-off
Irrigation doubles African food production. (2019, January 7). AGRA. Retrieved from https://agra.org/news/irrigation-doubles-african-food-production/
Drip Irrigation: Israel’s Ingenious Invention. (2021, May 11). Hasbara Fellowships. Retrieved from https://hasbarafellowships.org/drip-irrigation-israels-ingenious-invention
Water-Wise. Smart Irrigation Strategies for Africa. (2018). Malabo Montpellier Panel. Retrieved from https://www.mamopanel.org/media/uploads/files/Irrigation_report_FINAL_ONLINE.pdf
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