Irrigation Issues in Swaziland: Large-scale Projects

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. V. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Crop Management ◽  
Technical Support ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Country ◽  
Soil Variation ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

In Africa, Swaziland is atypical in being a small country. Nevertheless, it is agriculturally and climatically diverse and its problems are relevant to other sub Saharan countries. This article reviews large-scale irrigation schemes in the context of such factors as traditional land tenure, soil variation, crop management techniques, and availability of technical support. A later article will discuss problems of small-scale irrigation.

Irrigation Issues in Swaziland 2: Small-Scale Projects

1987 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 140-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. V. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Developing Country ◽  
Land Tenure ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Secure Systems ◽  
Sub Saharan

This is the second of two papers which discusses current irrigation issues in Swaziland, a relatively poor developing country in southern Africa. In the first, developments in large scale commercial irrigation schemes were considered [1]. In this, an important irrigation settlement scheme is described, together with small-scale government-supported and farmer-initiated schemes. Among other factors, the importance of secure systems of land tenure is examined. Finally, general conclusions are drawn regarding the role of irrigation in agricultural development in Swaziland and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals Agricultural Technical Efficiency of Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia: A Stochastic Frontier Approach

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 246
Author(s):  
Markose Chekol Zewdie ◽  
Michele Moretti ◽  
Daregot Berihun Tenessa ◽  
Zemen Ayalew Ayele ◽  
Jan Nyssen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Technical Efficiency ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Stochastic Frontier ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Stochastic Frontier Approach ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

In the past decade, to improve crop production and productivity, Ethiopia has embarked on an ambitious irrigation farming expansion program and has introduced new large- and small-scale irrigation initiatives. However, in Ethiopia, poverty remains a challenge, and crop productivity per unit area of land is very low. Literature on the technical efficiency (TE) of large-scale and small-scale irrigation user farmers as compared to the non-user farmers in Ethiopia is also limited. Investigating smallholder farmers’ TE level and its principal determinants is very important to increase crop production and productivity and to improve smallholder farmers’ livelihood and food security. Using 1026 household-level cross-section data, this study adopts a technology flexible stochastic frontier approach to examine agricultural TE of large-scale irrigation users, small-scale irrigation users and non-user farmers in Ethiopia. The results indicate that, due to poor extension services and old-style agronomic practices, the mean TE of farmers is very low (44.33%), implying that there is a wider room for increasing crop production in the study areas through increasing the TE of smallholder farmers without additional investment in novel agricultural technologies. Results also show that large-scale irrigation user farmers (21.05%) are less technically efficient than small-scale irrigation user farmers (60.29%). However, improving irrigation infrastructure shifts the frontier up and has a positive impact on smallholder farmers’ output.

scholarly journals Shallow groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa: neglected opportunity for sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gowing ◽  
Geoff Parkin ◽  
Nathan Forsythe ◽  
David Walker ◽  
Alemseged Tamiru Haile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Resources ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Shallow Groundwater ◽  
Sustainable Intensification ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Abstract. There is a need for an evidence-based approach to identify how best to support development of groundwater for small scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We argue that it is important to focus this effort on shallow groundwater resources which are most likely to be used by poor rural communities in SSA. However, it is important to consider constraints, since shallow groundwater resources are likely to be vulnerable to over-exploitation and climatic variability. We examine here the opportunities and constraints and draw upon evidence from Ethiopia. We present a methodology for assessing and interpreting available shallow groundwater resources and argue that participatory monitoring of local water resources is desirable and feasible. We consider possib le models for developing distributed small-scale irrigation and assess its technical feasibility. Because of power limits on water lifting and also because of available technology for well construction, groundwater at depths of 50 m or 60 m cannot be regarded as easily accessible for small-scale irrigation. We therefore adopt a working definition of shallow groundwater as < 20 m depth. This detailed case study in the Dangila woreda in Ethiopia explores the feasibility of exploiting shallow groundwater for small-scale irrigation over a range of rainfall conditions. Variability of rainfall over the study period (9 % to 96 % probability of non-exceedance) does not translate into equivalent variability in groundwater levels and river baseflow. Groundwater levels, monitored by local communities, persist into the dry season to at least the end of December in most shallow wells, indicating that groundwater is available for irrigation use after the cessation of the wet season. Arguments historically put forward against the promotion of groundwater use for agriculture in SSA on the basis that aquifers are unproductive and irrigation will have unacceptable impacts on wetlands and other groundwater-dependent ecosystems appear exaggerated. It would be unwise to generalise from this case study to the whole of SSA, but useful insights into the wider issues are revealed by the case study approach. We believe there is a case for arguing that shallow groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa represents a neglected opportunity for sustainable intensification of small-scale agriculture.

ICT and Distance Learning for Agricultural Extension in Low Income Countries

2008 ◽  
pp. 1554-1560
Author(s):  
Colin R. Latchem ◽  
Ajit Maru
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Land Reforms ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Value Add

About 2 billion people in low-income countries are dependent upon smallholding farming for their livelihoods. These are among the world’s poorest people. Most of them lack land tenure and farm in regions with limited land and water resources. Many must cope with drought, desertification, and environmental damage caused by failed land reforms, large-scale monocropping, overgrazing, logging, destroyed watersheds, and the encroachment of new pests and diseases. They use only the most primitive of tools and they lack the knowledge and skills to improve their farming methods, value-add their produce, and compete in national and global markets. Many of these smallholder communities have been devastated by HIV/AIDS. In some regions of sub-Saharan Africa, food production has dropped by 40%, and it is estimated that over the next 20 years, 26% of the agricultural labour force will be lost to this pandemic. And demographic and economic changes in the low-income nations are increasingly leaving farming in the hands of women, who lack the knowledge and resources to farm efficiently.

scholarly journals The Impact of Using Small-Scale Irrigation Motor Pumps on Farmers’ Household Incomes in Ethiopia: A Quasi-Experimental Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 8142
Author(s):  
Wubamlak Ayichew Workneh ◽  
Jun Takada ◽  
Shusuke Matsushita
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Irrigation System ◽  
Poverty Rate ◽  
Average Treatment Effect ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Growth Data ◽  
Canal Irrigation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Sectoral economic growth data in Ethiopia show that the agriculture sector has the lowest growth, which is caused by frequent drought and inefficient technologies, among other factors. As a result, the productivities of land and labor, as well as the income of small-scale farm households, are very low, and rural areas have a relatively high poverty rate. A quasi-experiment was applied to understand the impact of using small-scale irrigation motor pumps on farmers’ livelihood improvement. Specifically, a survey was conducted in 2019 on a sample of 92 small-scale irrigation motor pump and canal irrigation users as the treatment and control groups. The weighted propensity score matching method was applied to eliminate initial differences and adjust sampling proportions across the groups. Based on the average treatment effect on the treated estimation results, we cannot state that the mean income difference in small-scale irrigation motor pump users and canal irrigation system users is different from zero. This indicates that countries with little capital to invest in large-scale irrigation projects can introduce household-level small-scale irrigation motor pumps to improve farmers’ incomes.

E-Banking Project Management

2010 ◽  
pp. 167-189
Author(s):  
Mahmood Shah ◽  
Steve Clarke
Keyword(s):  
Information Technology ◽  
Project Management ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Business Development ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Managing Change ◽  
Management Techniques ◽  
Project Portfolios ◽  
Large Scale Project

Project management is an important concept in business development. Often, the development of information technology or managing change will be run as projects, and managed using various well established project management techniques and tools. E-banking is often treated like a large scale project and broken into several small scale projects to manage various different aspects (called project portfolios), ranging from BPR to make the organization ready for online operations, to actual implementation of e-banking technologies.

scholarly journals Reform of irrigation management and investment policy in African development

2004 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 652-663 ◽  
Author(s):  
KW Easter ◽  
S Zekri
Keyword(s):  
Irrigation Management ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Small Farm ◽  
Irrigation Development ◽  
Farm Productivity ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Direct Government ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

This paper examines the reform of water and irrigation management in Africa and compares it with similar reforms in Asia.  Several things are evident from the review.  First, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is at an earlier stage of irrigation development and reform than Asia.  Second, the articulated need for reform is much stronger in Asia than it is in SSA.  Third, the productivity of small-scale irrigated farms is significantly lower in SSA compared to Asia.  Thus any irrigation investment strategy in SSA should be different from Asia and focus on increasing small-farm productivity as well as small-scale irrigation projects.  Finally, all direct government irrigation investments should be done jointly with decisions regarding the type of project management.

The prospects for small scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa

1985 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Kay ◽  
W. Stephens ◽  
M. K. V. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Small Scale Irrigation

Formal and Informal Rights to Land in Zimbabwe's Black Freehold Areas: a case-study From Msengezi

Africa ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 77-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Cheater
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
General Area ◽  
Land Law ◽  
Rural Farmers ◽  
European Area ◽  
Commercial Farms ◽  
Communal Lands

INTRODUCTIONIn 1930 the Land Apportionment Act created freehold areas exclusively for blacks, known as the ‘native purchase areas’. Forty-seven years later these sixty-six separate areas lost their legal identity when the Land Tenure Amendment Act consolidated them, and the formerly ‘European’ commercial farms, into the ‘general area’ distinct from the communally held ‘Tribal Trust Land’. Today, although the new Government has not yet touched Zimbabwe's land law, it has popularized new terms to describe these three categories: ‘rural farmers’ describes the peasantry in the communal lands; ‘small-scale commercial farmers’ locates freeholders in the former African purchase lands; and ‘large-scale commercial farmers’ are those whites– and handful of blacks – who work land in what used to be the ‘European area’. The small-scale commercial farmers, however, remain exclusively black. Thus we can talk of the African purchase lands as if they had not been affected by the Land Tenure Amendment Act of 1977.

scholarly journals status of agricultural financing by commercial banks in Zimbabwe

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Blessing Ropafadzo Chigunhah ◽  
Ezekia Svotwa ◽  
Tendai J. Mabvure ◽  
Gerald Munyoro ◽  
Lovemore Chikazhe
Keyword(s):  
Land Tenure ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Capital Expenditure ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Productive Capacity

Agricultural finance is indispensable for enhancing productive capacity in both small-scale and commercial farming. This study sought to establish the current status of agricultural financing by 12 registered and operational commercial banks in Zimbabwe in the year 2019. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data. SPSS and NVivo were used for data analysis. All the commercial banks participated in agricultural financing with an average agricultural loan portfolio of 30%. However, their participation in agricultural lending is yet to reach the pre-land reform maximum of 91.3% attained in 1999. Land tenure and weather risks, as well as lack of collateral among farmers reduced the banks’ appetite for lending to the agricultural sector. The majority of the commercial banks offered value chain finance, invoice finance, overdraft facilities, and term loans to agricultural sector clients that mainly included; suppliers, medium-scale, and large-scale commercial farmers. The study established a mismatch in the demand and supply of loans in the medium to long term tenure range of 1 to more than 3 years. There was low demand for 1-3-year tenure loans according to the commercial banks, and a corresponding deficit in the supply of highly demanded longer-term loans of more than 3 years for capital expenditure (CAPEX). Therefore, government should aim to; stabilize currency; arrest hyperinflation; restore economic stability; address land tenure to ensure the bankability of the 99-year Lease; and create an environment that is conducive for investment in climate and weather resilience infrastructure. Local farmers should also invest in human and physical capital to improve their access to bank credit. JEL Code: Q14

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document