Agriculture Reference
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costs nor the operations and maintenance costs (Faurès et al., 2007). Newly
developed large-scale irrigation has in many instances also set the stage for
the emergence of new and often blatant, social and economic inequalities, for
destructive environmental processes and for administrative and political
neglect of rainfed cultivation (Diemer, 1988). Data from FAO (2005) show
that the underutilisation of large-scale irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan
Africa is about 18%. This means that on the average about 82% of developed
heactares in large-scale irrigation schemes are utilised.
Jones (1995) outlined some of the wasteful but expensive irrigation schemes
constructed in Nigeria (South Chad Irrigation Scheme, Lower Anambra
Irrigation Scheme and Bakalori Irrigation) which didn't meet expectations.
They were developed to produce wheat for import substitution; interestingly
it costs more to grow wheat on the irrigation projects than to import it.
Wallace (1979) pointed out that some large-scale irrigation projects have
taken away more land under irrigation than they may have put in by
blocking supply of water for irrigation of river banks downstream. A small
number of farmers have benefitted from access to irrigated land and other
means of production at a high cost to the state. According to Williams
(1988) farmers are mostly the receivers of unfair policies and decisions made
by the management of these schemes which impoverish them rather than
enrich them. Farmers have to rely on management to plough their fields and
to receive water and other inputs, meanwhile staff of the project tend to
meet their own needs and those of powerful outsiders with land in the
projects first. These have sometimes led to conflicts between farmers and
management.
Also concerns have been raised over negative social impacts such as the
displacement of residents in affected communities and lack of compensation
for the lands confiscated, for example under the Vea scheme in Ghana
(Konings, 1986) and the Kano River project in Nigeria (Wallace, 1979). Calls
for increased in-stream flows for environmental purposes, have received
increased attention and discouraged lenders from investing in more large-
scale irrigation (Faurès et al., 2007). Lenders rather invest in improving what
already exists (Inocencio et al., 2007). As a result, the annual growth rate of
irrigation development, particularly in large-scale public schemes, has
decreased since the late 1980s (FAO, 2005; Inocencio et al., 2007).
The fact remains that in sub-Saharan Africa the best option to enhance food
security is investment in both rainfed and irrigated agriculture. Faurès et al.
(2007) advises that the conditions that led to public investment in irrigation
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