Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
9.1 C
ONCLUSIONS
9.1.1 Irrigation Development in sub-Saharan
Africa
Irrigation development in sub-Saharan Africa begun in the pre-colonial era
and have continued through the colonial and post-colonial era with the
majority of irrigation schemes developed by governments. In the last two
decades, however, a significant amount of irrigation have been developed by
private commercial farmers, outgrower farmers, small-holder individuals and
communities as well as non-governmental organisations.
The rate of irrigation development in sub-Saharan Africa is the slowest
compared to other regions of the world and can be linked to the following
unresolved challenges: high development cost of irrigation, lack of access to
credits for farmers, unreliable and unpredictable markets, ineffective
institutions, low productivity, and finally, inappropriate technologies coupled
with poor infrastructural maintenance.
The study identifies five success factors for irrigation development in sub-
Saharan Africa and the enabling condition through which it can be achieved.
These factors include (1) secure access to land and water, (2) appropriate
technology, (3) predictable and stable input/output markets, (4) reliable
farmer support environment, and (5) effective institutions and favourable
policies. These factors function as a chain of shackles, the chain being as
strong as the weakest shackle. This implies that in a given situation the
weakest shackle has to be strengthened (adopted from Penning De Vries et
al., 2005 and Vishnudas et al., 2007). This theory has been tested on some
irrigation systems across sub-Saharan Africa with various degrees of success
and has proven to reveal the sources of success and failure. The weakest
shackle was found to be secure access to land and water followed by effective
institutions and favourable policies. The strongest shackles are reliable
farmer support environment and predictable and stable input/output
markets.
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