Profitability and productivity barriers and opportunities in small-scale irrigation schemes

Abstract

a school of commerce, university of south australia, adelaide, australia; b IcrIsat, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe; c csIro, canberra, australia ABSTRACT Irrigation development in Sub-Saharan Africa has lagged significantly behind that in other developing countries. Consequently, economic development and food security are also lagging behind. Since the mid-2000s there has been a resurgence in the willingness to invest in irrigation, and Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest potential of any developing region to benefit from it. However, to gain from new investment in irrigation without repeating past failures, it is critical to develop a business model for small-scale irrigation schemes. This article explores the barriers that such a model needs to address to be successful and the opportunities this represents for irrigators' profitability.

Exploring the productivity and profitability of small-scale communal irrigation systems in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…Only if the effort to improve infrastructure and increase yield is coordinated with an effort to integrate small-scale irrigators into the value chain, connect them to information and resolve critical institutional and governance issues will investments in hardware and productivity result in better livelihood and food security . Bjornlund, van Rooyen, and Stirzaker (2017) first provide a comprehensive review of the international literature on the barriers and opportunities for increasing water productivity and profitability in small-scale irrigation schemes in developing countries. This provides an understanding of the global issues that are addressed by the African case studies.…”

Irrigating Africa: policy barriers and opportunities for enhanced productivity of smallholder farmers

“…None of the irrigation schemes were self-sustaining, that is, they relied on external funders for infrastructure maintenance, and the current farming systems were barely profitable (de Sousa et al, 2017;Mdemu, Mziray, Bjornlund, & Kashaigili, 2017;Moyo et al, 2017). The issues of profitability of small-scale irrigation schemes in the SSA region are covered in more detail by Bjornlund, van Rooyen, and Stirzaker (2017).…”

Theory and application of Agricultural Innovation Platforms for improved irrigation scheme management in Southern Africa

“…The schemes and baseline surveys are reported in detail in the three country-specific articles in this issue: for Zimbabwe by Moyo et al (2017); for Tanzania by Mdemu et al (2017); and for Mozambique by de Sousa et al (2017), summarized by Bjornlund, van Rooyen, and Stirzaker (2017).…”