As climate change makes rainfall less reliable, expanding irrigation is increasingly important for food security. Today only about six per cent of cultivated land in Africa is irrigated and under one-fifth of global cropland has irrigation. Small-scale farms produce roughly four fifths of the food consumed across Asia and Sub‑Saharan Africa, and the 500 million small-scale farms in those regions will be central to meeting rising demand.
Global food production must rise by around 60% if the world population approaches 10 billion by 2050. Farmer-led, small-scale irrigation systems offer a practical pathway: they can be owned, shared, or provided as a service and typically require lower upfront investment, are easier to maintain, yield higher returns, and give farmers more control. Technology such as precision irrigation and sensor-based systems can target water to the root zone and monitor soil moisture. Africa also holds large groundwater reserves, with water accessible in many areas; solar-powered pumps produce a far smaller emissions footprint than diesel or grid pumps.
There are clear benefits from pilot projects. A Kenyan farmer installed a solar-powered system that collected rainwater, pumped it to an overhead tank and distributed it through buried pipes, allowing year-round tomato production and earnings above KES 40,000 (about US$400). In Ghana, where less than three per cent of cultivated land was irrigated, a US$62 million project modernised irrigation and drainage, benefitted some 14,000 people and raised rice yields from 4.5 to about 5.5 MT/Ha.
Scaling up will be costly — an estimated US$26 billion to US$50 billion annually over the next two decades — and faces constraints such as surface water limits, groundwater depletion, salinisation, runoff, fragmented markets and limited smallholder credit. Known solutions include blended finance, better management practices, collaborative governance and transboundary water agreements. Practical frameworks cited include the FAO Water Scarcity Program and the joint IFC‑IFAD Handbook for Scaling Irrigation Systems.
Difficult words
- irrigation — artificial supply of water to crops
- cultivate — to prepare and use land for cropscultivated
- small-scale — involving small farms or limited size
- precision — very accurate control for a specific area
- groundwater — water stored below the Earth's surface
- solar-powered — operated using energy from the sun
- salinisation — build-up of salt in soil or water
- blended finance — mix of public and private funding
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Discussion questions
- What are the main benefits and risks of expanding small-scale irrigation for farmers in Africa and Asia? Give reasons from the article.
- How could technologies like precision irrigation change farming practices for smallholders? Give possible advantages and challenges.
- Which financing or governance measures mentioned could most help scale irrigation, and why might they be effective in practice?
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