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Africa
Invisible irrigators :
How small-scale Tanzanian farmers are making a difference
by Phil Woodhouse
Despite increased efforts to expand irrigation in Tanzania , the country is still well below its declared target of one million hectares of irrigated land . Or is it ?
New research reveals that official statistics often don ’ t include irrigation set up and run by individual farmers . This would appear to be good news , but very little is known about this underthe-radar irrigation . The big question for policymakers now is how to respond .
Over the past decade , efforts to boost irrigation in Africa have increased significantly in response to a variety of issues . These include ongoing low productivity , rising food prices , and growing concerns that climate change will impact Africa ’ s already unpredictable weather . This could have a knockon effect on agriculture .
Tanzania ’ s irrigation development exemplifies this trend . The total area of irrigated land doubled between 2004 and 2014 . This promises big increases in food security . Crop yields are estimated to be two to four times higher on irrigated than non-irrigated land . Irrigated agriculture already contributes to 24 % of Tanzania ’ s national food requirements from only 4 % of the country ’ s total cultivated land area .
The government has shown commitment to ambitious expansion with the implementation of a National Irrigation Policy in 2010 and passing of the National Irrigation Act in 2013 .
Yet according to the Tanzanian National Irrigation Commission , the country is still well below its
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target of one million hectares , with only 46 % of this currently irrigated . One explanation for this is that there simply isn ’ t enough irrigation development going on due to funding and implementation constraints . Lack of government budget is a key barrier .
But even newer funding and operating models such as publicprivate partnerships come with their own problems . The positives of these partnerships are counterweighed by challenges such as a lack of experience in negotiating with commercial partners , difficulties in negotiating access to large areas of land typically expected by private investors , and banks ’ reluctance to fund investment in the sector .
But there ’ s also another possible interpretation : that there isn ’ t actually that much of a lag – and it ’ s actually more a question of inaccurate irrigation data .
Irrigating under the radar
New research has revealed that Tanzania ’ s official statistics on irrigation often don ’ t include initiatives set up and run by individual farmers . This is either because they ’ re not aware of it , or because they don ’ t consider it to have much potential .
Compared to formally engineered projects , this ‘ farmer-led ’ irrigation is often small-scale and interspersed among nonirrigated fields . This makes it harder to record . It also takes diverse forms . These range from watering via pumps , wells , flooded valley bottoms , or even via stream diversions or small dams .
The same research shows that farmer-led irrigation is in fact flourishing . It reveals that the area of suitable irrigated farm land is much larger than typically thought . It could be as much as 10-20 % larger for rice-growing areas , for example .
And it ’ s not just the case in Tanzania . Research from Mozambique indicates that irrigated areas might be double the officially recognised area if farmer-led irrigation is included , and similar observations are emerging from Zimbabwe .
Responding to farmer-led irrigation
From a crop productivity point of view , this is good news . It indicates that Tanzania is actually much closer than expected to its national target of one million hectares of land irrigated . But it also raises new questions .
First , it ’ s likely that the undocumented irrigation uncovered is only the tip of the iceberg . So , what is the best way to capture more detail on where and how small-scale farmers are irrigating ?
Satellite imagery analysis is a possible solution . It has already produced striking findings suggesting that across Sub- Saharan Africa irrigation may be two to three times greater than previously thought . In some countries , such as Ethiopia , it ’ s very much greater .
More importantly , perhaps , it raises questions about how governments should respond to farmer-led irrigation . Should it be supported , and incorporated into official irrigation strategy , or approached with caution ?
At the moment , it ’ s hard to say . Although this type of irrigation is slowly becoming more visible to official eyes , understanding of its social , economic and hydrological impacts is still very limited . It may increase crop yields , but at what cost ? For example , does it benefit everyone in a given community , or just a few individuals ? How do women and non-locals fare ? Is it environmentally sustainable ?
It ’ s vital that government officials charged with meeting Tanzania ’ s irrigation target look into these questions . They could start by mapping out where and how farmer-led irrigation is happening . Only then can they make the best decisions about whether or how to embrace farmer-led irrigation .
• Phil Woodhouse is a Professor , School of Environment , Education and Development , University of Manchester . From : The Conversation media service .
Disclosure statement Phil Woodhouse is an employee of the University of Manchester , UK . He receives funding from the UK government through a grant from the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme .
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The Conversation is funded by Barclays Africa and nine universities , including the Cape Peninsula University of Technology , Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University , National University of Science and Technology and the Universities of the Free State , Kwa-Zulu Natal , Pretoria , Western Cape , Witwat