CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS - Sustainable Irrigation Development in the White Volta Sub-Basin - page 220

9.1.5 Implications of results for other regions of
sub-Saharan Africa
Different regions in sub-Saharan Africa are charactised with similarities in
culture, farming practicies, living standards, educational levels, technology,
developmental needs, and institutional context. Thus lessons drawn from
studies conducted in some parts of sub-Saharan Africa may be relevant to
other regions. This implies that findings from this research conducted in a
semi-arid climate with high poverty levels where farming is the main source
of livelihood are not limited to the White Volta sub-basin only. The
endogenous irrigation development dynamic found in the White Volta sub-
basin contains some lessons that can be used to help improve irrigation
development in other parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
The irrigation development trend found in the White Volta sub-basin is born
out of a fairly robust and growing market demand in the urban areas of
southern Ghana. Thus the main driving force of this development, and its
associated innovative irrigation technologies, is the market for irrigated
products. This phenomenon is common across sub-Saharan Africa where
urbanisation is increasing rapidly. Other regions can take advantage of the
increasing demand for irrigated crops, such as vegetables and rice.
Most of the recent irrigation technologies identified in the White Volta sub-
basin are indigenous and locally managed. Farmers in the sub-basin have
successfully managed these technologies because they are simple and
relatively inexpensive. The farmers have also seized the opportunity of the
presence of relatively cheap and abundant labour to develop some of these
technologies. This is a major lesson for irrigation development in sub-
Saharan Africa. Irrigation development policies must begin to look at how to
empower local farmers to become entrepreneurs.
Several investments have been directed towards large-scale irrigation schemes
which have not yielded expected benefits. The ongoing irrigation
development in the White Volta sub-basin is self-initiated by local
individuals without external or government support. This presents
opportunities for governments to re-assess investments in irrigation
development. For example, investments can be directed towards creating the
enabling environment for irrigation development, such as stable and reliable
markets, farmer accessibility to land and water, farmer support services and
effective institutions. These are likely to trigger the entrepreneurship
capabilities of farmers which will bring expansion of irrigation.