Sustainable Irrigation Development in the White Volta sub-Basin

Abstract

All rights reserved. No part of this publication or the information ABSTRACTGlobal efforts aimed at ensuring food sufficiency by increasing staple food production have adopted irrigated farming as one of the main strategies.

Performance of small reservoir irrigated schemes in the Upper Volta basin: Case studies in Burkina Faso and Ghana

“…Our assessment of the performance of these two irrigation schemes supplied by the small reservoir confirmed the results of previous case studies (Faulkner et al, 2008;Ofusu, 2011;Ofusu et al, 2010):…”

“…Average vegetable yields were 4.3 Mg.ha -1 for onion and 8.6 Mg.ha -1 for tomato; these yields were slightly better than in Binaba 2, but still far below potential yields and below the yields obtained elsewhere in similar conditions (Ofusu et al, 2010;Ofusu, 2011).…”

“…The average yields of the vegetable crops were very low, about 1 Mg.ha -1 for tomato and 4 Mg.ha -1 for onion, whereas irrigation schemes downstream from small reservoirs in the same region were able to produce about 20 Mg.ha -1 (Ofusu et al, 2010;Ofusu, 2011) and potential yields for tomato were higher than 45 Mg.ha -1 and for onion 35 Mg.ha -1 (FAO, 1979). Unlike rice, no vegetable plot in Binaba 2 reached similar yields.…”

Challenges and Opportunities for Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation into WaSH Development Planning in Ghana

“…Thus, the Vea Dam is used to store water for consumers in the Bolgatanga Municipality (Ofosu et al, 2014). Since the predominant sources of water in the basin are rainfall water, streams, rivers, lakes and groundwater (Megan, 2013), it is important to know how the current changes in the climatic condition of the Municipality may threaten these water bodies that replenish the White Volta Basin.…”

Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) Approach and Smallholder Irrigation Farming

“…Thirty years, after independence, most smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe still had no known record of borrowing from commercial banks or other financial institutions and the financial institution themselves have limited understanding of smallholder farmers as possible clients [26]. The resource-poor farmers have not been viewed as potential entrepreneurs, and therefore development investments have not been aimed at smallholder farmers in their role as customers of input markets, and suppliers of agricultural products [35][36][37]. Banks deal with large-scale formal businesses and in agriculture, they only serve large scale commercial farms, plantation entities and agri-business.…”