Economics of irrigation development in Africa

Approximately 85% of Africa’s poor inhabitants live in rural areas, relying on agriculture to make a living [You et al,2010]. Despite the highly variable and uneven rainfall, most of the continent depends on rain-fed cultivation. It is estimated that if more irrigation schemes are implemented, there is potential to boost agricultural productivity by 50%. Currently, just over 13 million hectares of land is equipped for irrigation farming. This accounts for only 6% of the total cultivated area, compared to 14% in Latin America and 37% in Asia. 4% of Sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated, suggesting there is scope for expansion in this area [You et al,2010]. Although this figure is higher in Northern Africa at 28%, Northern Africa has exhausted its potential for further development by using unsustainable methods of irrigation. Examples of this include, Libya and Egypt where water is withdrawn from the ground and from the River Nile, respectively.

The investment into irrigation systems for African countries is dependent upon numerous factors, such as hydrology, agro economics, geography and economic factors. These vary accordingly for each country thus, making it difficult to compare the costs directly. Identifying locations that are optimal for irrigation as well as incorporating the cost of water delivery can present complex engineering and hydrological tasks. In urban areas where resources are more readily available, this may be less of an issue, however, in rural areas where there is a lack of infrastructure, farmers must adapt their style of irrigation to low-cost, low maintenance methods to ensure profit is made. This may also require the interference of external organisations.

Despite popular belief that irrigation will increase productivity, research by [Biswas,1987], suggested that the cost of implanting irrigation techniques is greater in Africa compared to other regions of the world. In general, if the investment cost is greater than $4500 per hectare or $6000 per hectare for staple crops and cereal crops, respectively, the economic returns from their production will not be sufficient to justify the costs incurred. This stands true even when the efficiency of the systems is at a maximum. Figure 1 shows the different types of irrigation projects that were undertaken in various parts of Africa. From this, it is evident that different countries require different irrigation systems implemented. Moreover, the cost of a similar project in one country may be significantly different in another country. For example, the full water control project in Lake Alaotra, Madagascar was $894 per hectare unlike Senegal, where it was $4173 per hectare.  As this research was done 32 years ago, this may not be the case at present however, it provides an idea of considerations that must be taken in place before starting a project.

Overall, increasing agricultural productivities are key to reducing poverty by 2030, enabling African countries to reach the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations. In my next blog post, I hope to explore some of the irrigation methods used by African countries and analyse the benefits and costs of each.

Figure 1 shows the costs of certain irrigation projects conducted in Africa between 1970 and 1985. [Source]