CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS - Sustainable Irrigation Development in the White Volta Sub-Basin - page 218

women farmers. In contrast, the large irrigation schemes, where farm plots
are relatively large, achieve low productivities (in terms of land, water and
profit margin).
The findings imply that in order to achieve high impact, irrigation
development in sub-Saharan Africa should consider the economic status of
the users and their ability to make the best out of the technology in terms of
productivity. Also, technologies with farmers controlling the water should be
preferred. The resulting economic activities have a large positive spinoff in
terms of job opportunities, especially for the youth and female farmers.
Finally apart from technologies that depend on reservoirs, all other
technologies are farmer driven and required no government support. This
ongoing type of endogenous irrigation development in the study area
provides a strong backing that the way forward in sub-Saharan Africa is for
governments to create policies that facilitate poor farmers becoming
irrigation entrepreneurs. Such policies should aim to enhance the reliability
of markets (both input and output) as the driving force, and facilitate
people's access to land and water.
9.1.3 Impact of Upscaling Irrigation Development
in the White Volta sub-basin
Current irrigation covers 1% of the Anayari catchment area, 0.8% of
Atankwidi and 2.6% of Yarigatanga. Private-led irrigation is about 73% of
the total irrigation in the study area and has been growing at a rate of
5.7%/a. Government-led irrigation systems (small and large reservoirs), in
contrast, experienced a general decline in irrigated areas over the past three
decades due to infrastructural and institutional challenges. The study area
has experienced an overall annual irrigation growth rate of 5.6%/a from
2005-2010. The study area covers about 1% of the White Volta sub-basin.
The trend of irrigation observed in the study area is considered to be similar
in the other catchments within the sub-basin.
The factors that have influenced the past trend are likely to sustain the
current state of irrigation in the basin. However additional factors such as
expanding markets for irrigated products, introduction of new irrigation
technologies, government policies and interventions are likely to increase
irrigation development beyond the current growth rate in the near future.
If current irrigation would grow at 5%/a, by 2025, the level of irrigation
would result in reducing streamflow from the study area by 33.1 x 10 6 m 3 .
This is the total water loss due to irrigation in 1% of the total catchment
area of the White Volta sub-basin. Upscaling to the entire White Volta sub-