www.worldbank.org/water | www.blogs.worldbank.org/water | @WorldBankWater

Delivering Water for

Agriculture Services: What Niche for the Smallholder Farmer

in Sub-Saharan Africa?Prof Bancy M. Mati

Director, Water Research and

Resource Center (WARREC),

Jomo Kenyatta University of

Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT)

In Africa, rainfall is usually unreliable

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Floods in Mramvya, Burundi

Dried up water pan in Magadi, Kenya

Livestock deaths from drought in Wajir, Kenya

Crops wither from shortage of rainfall

Infrastructure failures are scattered throughout

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Examples• Breach of embankments• Dams/pans silt too soon• Pollution of water

storages• Dry boreholes• Abandoned pumps and

gensets• Water deficits/inadequate

design

Climate Impacts - Mt. Kilimanjaro losing its ice cap

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Satellite image comparing Mount Kilimanjaro’s glaciers between 1976 and 2006

Since 1912, the ice caps on Mt. Kilimanjaro have decreased by between 50 to

80%

Photo by B. Mati, 31st May 2010

The Disconnect – Conventional water lifting devices are

rudimentary

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Conventional pumps include:o Manual buckets for water liftingo Rope & washer pumps (manual)o Hand pumps e.g. Indian Mark-II o Treadle pumps (manual) for

irrigationo Motorized petrol or diesel pumpso Diesel or petrol submergible pumpso Electric pumps powered from grid

The Disconnect – Wasteful water application methods

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Photos by B. Mati

Over-irrigation

Basin irrigation

Flood irrigation Hosing wastes water

Rainwater harvesting is a huge opportunity

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Why Rainwater harvesting?Because 93% of all agricultural

lands in Africa are rainfed

Some improvements to traditional systems – but

is this enough?

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Photos by B. Mati

Towards delivering water

for smallholder agriculture

in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Water in agriculture has multifaceted components

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Conveyance

Application

Soil Moisture

Conservation

Abstraction

Storage

Rainwater Harvesting & Group-scale storage (pans)

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Water pan for community use

(domestic livestock, irrigation) Vegetables grown using water from

a water pan by a women group

Photos by Bancy Mati

Kitchen Gardens taken to scale – nutrition and women’s niches

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A key-hole garden in Turkana

Wick irrigation garden

Bag garden in Nairobi

Sunken beds in Marsabit

Example of Walda Irrigation Scheme, Marsabit, Kenya

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• Good and durable solar pumps are now available heavy duty work.

• Example; Walda Irrigation Scheme in Marsabit County, has solar pumping of 4 boreholes for irrigation on 60 ha land to grow high value crops.

• The scheme settled former pastoralists who are now cultivators, showing the great potential to convert the arid lands of Kenya into breadbaskets

Solar pumping at Walda Irrigation

Scheme-Marsabit (Hybrid system)

Water stored in a lagoon. Diesel

booster pump used for distributionVegetables under drip irrigation

Smart Technologies - Making every drop count!

Using drones for tracking crop stressors by farmers

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• Drones with IR & NIR mounted cameras are used to capture real time imagery on small farms.

• Data is downscaled and sold to farmers (about US$.2/acre)

• The imagery can “see” crop problems 10 days ahead of human eye

• Over 1,200 farmers have registered as “clients” for this service in Meru, Kenya

Solar powered pumps – Simpler, smaller, smarter

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Solar powered surface solar pump

Solar powered submersible pump

Small pocket-size solar

powered pump

Micro-catchment Rainwater harvesting systems

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Zai pits (tassa)

Half-moon (semi-circular) bunds

Photos courtesy of Poda, J.N. CNRST, Burkina Faso

Soil and water conservation structures –

conserving every drop where it falls

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Radical terraces in Gichumbi, Rwanda

Stone wall terraces in Ankober, Ethiopia

Scour checks in Nyanza, Rwanda

Cutoff drain in Kabale, Uganda

Integrating fisheries in irrigated agriculture

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Fish ponds within irrigated rice fields at Zomba, Malawi

Addressing information disconnect – Hands-on

demonstration

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Planning to provide water for multiple uses

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Domestic water supplies closer to communities

Livestock drinking water

Hygiene e.g. bathing, washing clothes

Supplemental irrigation of crops

Environment & hygiene

So… What Africa’s Smallholder Farmers Need

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EnablersMoving forward - Enablers

Improve access to credit

Food and nutrition security

Building partnerships for financing, marketing

Smart Financing with co-investment by private entities

Water productivity (income per drop) increased production and improved value chains

The Way Forward

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Policy – Government support for access to water for agriculture

Funding – Innovative financing is facilitative, not exploitative

Partnerships – Enhance value chains of farming enterprises

Technologies – Efficient, sustainable, and affordable

www.worldbank.org/water | www.blogs.worldbank.org/water | @WorldBankWater

Thank You

For Details contact: bancym@gmail.com