Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
of rice, fruits, sugarcane, bio-fuels and others. For example in Namibia about
300,000ha of land has been secured by a multi-national company, LL Biofuels
Namibia for the planting of jatropha for biodiesel production (Biodiesel
Magazine, 2010). Such investments made by multi-national companies need
strong government backing and also need to be championed together with
the government to succeed.
Government-led irrigation systems mostly use river diversion, river-dam-
reservoir, tank, river-lift or lake, groundwater-lift or drainage/flood control
for supplying irrigation water. Most large-scale and medium-scale irrigation
schemes are developed from large dams which comprise dams greater than 15
meters (m) in height from base to crest, or storage capacity exceeding 3
million cubic meters for heights between 5 and 15 m (ICID, 2000). These
large dams developed by governments are sometimes multi-purpose, also
supplying water to cities, improving navigation, generating hydroelectric
power and/or providing flood control.
The cost of developing government-led large and medium scale irrigation
schemes vary widely. Jones (1995), reviewing the experience of the World
Bank in irrigation development for a few decades, estimated that the average
unit cost for 191 irrigation government-led projects was US$4,800 per ha in
1991. The average for the whole of Africa was US$13,000 per ha while that
for sub-Saharan Africa was US$18,300 per ha when indirect costs for social
infrastructure, including roads, houses, electric grids, and public service
facilities, are included. According to the FAO (2003), irrigation investment
costs are generally much higher in sub-Saharan Africa compared to a world
average of 5,600 $/ha. On the other hand, there are sporadic studies showing
relatively cheaper irrigation projects in sub-Saharan Africa with average unit
costs comparable to Asia (SADCC, 1992; IFAD, 2000; World Bank-AFTS2,
2004). See section 3.4.1 for reasons explaining the high cost in sub-Saharan
Africa.
These government-led irrigation schemes have had their various successes
and failures which have contributed to the general trend in the development
of irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa (Chambers, 1988). The
development of government-led irrigation schemes experienced a rise in the
1960s but has consistently dropped since the 1980s due to several factors.
Some of these factors include rising construction cost, decline in food prices,
an increasing recognition of environmental and social costs of development
and failures in the performance of most existing irrigation schemes.
The development of government-led irrigation schemes is considered
important as they are associated with useful infrastructure development,
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