IS LARGE-SCALE PUBLIC IRRIGATION THE WAYFORWARD FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA? - Sustainable Irrigation Development in the White Volta Sub-Basin - page 105

Staff are paid by the government and the government remains the major
financier of both schemes. The schemes are currently not financially self-
sustaining.
Also, initially when the irrigation schemes were commissioned, there were no
water levies charged to the beneficiary farmers until after some years. Since
the introduction of the levies, not all farmers have embraced the decision,
especially the first generation irrigators who still find it difficult to pay water
levies.
The issue on land management is a major challenge affecting the
sustainability of the Vea scheme. The control over land in Vea by farmers
coupled with the poor state of water control structures is affecting the
management's ability to collect water levies. Thus the management is unable
to meet the budget which is intended for operations and maintenance. The
ICOUR management does not seem to have a clear strategy to resolve the
controversy over the control of land in Vea.
Both schemes have experienced fluctuations in number of farmer cultivating
over the years. This has affected overall production levels. Reasons for the
fluctuations include the effect of pest and diseases which affect tomato
cultivation and results in low productivity and the inability of the scheme to
secure markets for some of their products, such as tomatoes and rice. When
farmers lose on income it affects their participation the following year.
ICOUR has been unable to find solutions for the challenges from diseases
affecting tomatoes, nor securing reliable markets for tomatoes. ICOUR has
been able to develop rice mills at Tono and with the assistance of an NGO,
also at Vea. This gives ICOUR the ability to provide farm inputs for rice
farmers who sell their rice to ICOUR for smooth repayment of financial
assistance.
Both schemes are unable to achieve good yield for crops other than rice. This
has affected the overall productivity (crop and water) of these schemes. Thus
ICOUR has not been able to meet the expected target of production
throughout its history. In addition to the above listed challenges there are
several other factors which have affected the overall productivity of both
schemes and these include:
 Lack of market for some of the produce and market information for
farmers;
 Increase in the cost of farm inputs;
 Elimination of agricultural subsidies under the PAMSCAD program
in the early 1990s;