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Pro-Sahel – Innovation and technology in small-scale irrigation systems for small-scale producers in the Sahel

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    Project
    Regional Training Workshop on Enhancing Water Use Efficiency in Small Scale Irrigation: the Application of FAO’s MASSCOTE Approach. GAP Workshop Report
    8-15 June 2015 - Sanliurfa, Turkey
    2015
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    The project “CP/INT/231/SWI: Strengthening Agricultural Water Efficiency and Productivity on the African and Global Level” aims at reducing hunger and poverty in three African countries (Burkina Faso, Morocco and Uganda) by focusing on the improvement of Agriculture Water Management (AWM) and mainstreaming AWM in national frameworks and processes. The objectives of this project are in line with the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which provides a common framework for stimulating and guiding national, regional and continental initiatives for enhanced agriculture productivity in Africa. The ultimate beneficiaries of the project are the small-scale and family farmers, but the overall approach of the project is a combination of bottom up and top down activities and different levels (micro, meso and macro levels). For this reason, the project will be working with extension agents and farmers’ representatives (micro level), research institutes and regional gov ernance structures (meso level), and national governments (macro level). One of the main outputs of the project is to enhance capacity for increased water use efficiency in small-scale irrigation in Burkina Faso, Morocco and Uganda (Output 2). The workshop “Enhancing Water Use Efficiency in Small Scale Irrigation: The Application of FAO’s MASSCOTE Approach” was one of the activities of this output. The main objective of the workshop was to build capacities of water professionals from Burkina Fas o, Morocco and Uganda (as well as the host country as a step towards south- south cooperation) on increasing water use efficiency of irrigation systems by stimulating critical senses of agricultural water management in diagnosing and evaluating obstacles, constraints and opportunities, and in developing consistent modernization plans/ strategies.
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Field guide to improve crop water productivity in small-scale agriculture
    The case of Burkina Faso, Morocco and Uganda
    2020
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    By 2050, the world’s population will reach 9.1 billion, which requires an increase of food production by 70 percent compared to 2005 (FAO,2018). Nearly all the increase will occur in developing countries, where agriculture plays a major role to provide employment, income and to improve food security. One of the major challenges of increasing food supply is the limited water resources. Agriculture, as the driver of freshwater exploitation has, therefore, to be transformed into more resource efficient production (FAO, 2003). The world’s limited freshwater resources are potentially threatened by the expansion of agriculture. Increasing the potential output per amount of water used is an appropriate practice to improve production efficiency while protecting water resources. Therefore, increasing the productivity of agricultural water use in a sustainable manner is essential to ultimately sustain the social and economic conditions of livelihoods. Crop water productivity has grown into one of the major approaches to cope with water scarcity and advance crop-water relation. The number of conceptual frameworks and implications is ample, but there is always a growing need to review the step-by-step approach beyond. In this Field guide, practical pathways are presented to provide a comprehensive approach for assessing and improving crop water productivity in small-scale agriculture. The Field guide draws lessons learned in three countries (Burkina Faso, Morocco and Uganda) within the framework of FAO project “Strengthening Agricultural Water Efficiency and Productivity at the African and Global Level” funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
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    Book (series)
    Land and water rights in the Sahel
    Tenure challenges of improving access to water for agriculture
    2006
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    Water for agriculture draws on a range of sources - from naturally available water bodies to water supply infrastructure. In sub-Saharan Africa, only a very small percentage of arable land is irrigated. Most farmers produce food under rainfed conditions. In 1995, for instance, 89 percent of cereal production in sub-Saharan Africa was delivered from rainfed agriculture, compared to 58 percent in the West Asia and Northern Africa region (InterAcademy Council, 2004). The situation in the Sahel is v ery much in line with this trend. Here, the past few decades have witnessed considerable efforts to improve the water infrastructure in rural areas. As a result, there has been a multiplication of pastoral water points and of irrigation schemes - from large, state-owned schemes like the Office du Niger in Mali (which dates back to the 1930s) to village-level irrigation schemes. Irrigation has enabled the cultivation of a range of crops - from rice to fruit and vegetables. However, rainfed farmin g (millet, sorghum, etc) and pastoralism are - and are likely to remain - the dominant forms of agricultural production and the pillars of rural livelihoods in much of the Sahel.

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