On a global scale, as of 2012, 324 million hectares were equipped for irrigation, with 85 percent of it
being irrigated, corresponding to about 21 percent of all cultivated land and claiming 44 percent of the
global crop production (FAO 2016a, and FAO 2016b).
Figure 2. Area equipped with irrigation as percentage of cultivated area (2012) (FAO 2016)
The role of irrigation in the alleviation of poverty
has been the focus of many international
communities and groups in the recent years. More
investment is going into the modernization of
the existing systems to improve the efficiency of
water use and increase the crop production. This
approach can directly benefit farmers and alleviate
poverty.
Irrigation is dependent on water and rainfall is
the main natural source to provide that water.
As population growth and demand for water
use in irrigation rapidly increases, struggle for a
secure water supply will become more difficult to
administer, especially in arid parts of the world.
Large arid areas with absolute water scarcity which
affects millions of people, many of whom are poor
and underprivileged.
Irrigation in South Africa is currently practiced on 1
600 000 hectares and it uses 60% of the available
water. Large areas of the Republic of South Africa
are subject to hot and dry climatic conditions, high
evaporation and a low and intermittent rainfall,
where optimal crop production is not possible
without the addition of plant-available water by
means of irrigation.Although some rains fell in
many parts of South Africa the past January, it
is still in the grip of a drought that effects all of
us and it impact on food security. In Figure 3,
the percentage rainfall that occurred the past
4 months is shown, and one can see that many
parts of South Africa received well below 50% of its
normal rainfall.
Figure 3: Percent of normal precipitation the past 4 months
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
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