Water, Sewage & Effluent May June 2019 | Page 19

In the case of Ethiopia, one of the main reasons for its success is that agriculture and irrigation have been featured on the Ethiopian policy agenda since 1991. What other countries can do innovations To have food and income security and attain broader development goals, countries need to ensure that all levels of government are engaged in planning and implementation. The private sector and farming communities also need to be involved to expand irrigation. The experience of Ethiopia and other countries leading on irrigation can help other African governments develop country-specific strategies to effectively take irrigation to scale. The benefits of doing so, such as enhancing on-farm productivity and income and improving resilience and livelihoods, are transformational. The expansion in irrigated farming, coupled with reliable agricultural inputs and stable markets for the expected growth in farm products, has the potential to catapult Ethiopia to the forefront of African countries that have embraced agriculture as an engine of economic growth.  Source: forbesafrica.com www.waterafrica.co.za Water Sewage & Effluent May/June 2019 17 Water Sewage & Effluent May/June 2019 17