Prospects for Improving Irrigated Agriculture in Southern Africa: Linking Water, Energy and Food

Increasing agricultural productivity has always been a prominent feature on the regional agenda due to a high incidence of food and nutrition insecurity. This review assessed the current status of irrigated agriculture in southern Africa from a water–energy–food (WEF) nexus perspective. Gaps and opportunities for improving irrigated agriculture within the context of the WEF nexus were also assessed in terms of the feasible limits to which they can be exploited. Southern Africa faces water scarcity, and climate projections show that member states will face increased physical and/or economic water scarcity by as early as 2025, which will have negative impacts on water, energy and food production. Recurrent droughts experienced across the region reaffirm the sensitive issues of food and energy insecurity as well as water scarcity. Projections of an increasing population within the region indicate increased water, energy and food demand. With agriculture already accounting for about 70% of water withdrawals, increasing the area under irrigation will place additional demand on already strained energy grids and scarce water resources. This poses the question—is increasing irrigated agriculture a solution to improving water access, food security and energy supply? While there are prospects for increasing the area under irrigation and subsequent improvement in agricultural productivity, adopting a WEF nexus approach in doing so would mitigate trade-offs and unintended consequences. Consideration of the WEF nexus in integrated resources planning and management eliminates the possibilities of transferring problems from one sector to other, as it manages synergies and trade-offs. While it is acknowledged that improving water productivity in irrigated agriculture could reduce water and energy use while increasing yield output, there is a need to decide how such savings would then be reallocated. Any intervention to increase the irrigated area should be done in the context of a WEF nexus analytical framework to guide policy and decision-making. Technical planning should evolve around the WEF nexus approach in setting targets, as WEF nexus indicators would reveal the performance and impact of proposed interventions on any of the three WEF nexus components.

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Increasing and Sustaining Agricultural Productivity through Land Improvement Approach: A Mitigation Measure to Climate Change

Hydro Nepal Journal of Water Energy and Environment ◽

10.3126/hn.v10i0.7117 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 66-72

Author(s):

Rishi R.S. Neupane

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

Agricultural Productivity ◽

Irrigated Agriculture ◽

Command Area ◽

Irrigation Canal ◽

Mitigation Measure ◽

Agriculture Development ◽

Land Improvement

Due to greenhouse gas effect temperature around the world will increase (0.06ºC/yr.) resulting in increased evapo-transpiration and increased need of crop irrigation pressurizing ground water resources and its judicious use. An experiment in a deep tubewell area with improved land and irrigation management undertaken in early 1980’s has shown that doubling of agricultural productivity is possible. This system can be taken as mitigative/adaptive measure of climate change.This paper involves experiences of managing tubewell irrigation schemes through improving basically these development parameters in the irrigation command area: Land improvement (land consolidation, rectangular shaping and leveling), Irrigation canal efficiency improvement,Introduction of crop water management, and Evolving Farmers Group into a Co-operative Organization- for managing land collectively. The evaluation has shown that through this intervention approach yields of paddy, wheat, maize and pulse can be doubled in the irrigated areas. This concept might be useful to modify the present policy and program vision of irrigated agriculture development in Nepal through enhancing water productivity a mitigation measure of the effects of climate change. Also, this approach is applicable to surface irrigation schemes of Terai and hills of Nepal.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/hn.v10i0.7117 Hydro Nepal Vol.10 January 2012 66-72

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Innovation Issues in Water, Agriculture and Food

Water ◽

10.3390/w11061230 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 1230 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Maria do Rosário Cameira ◽

Luís Santos Pereira

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Management ◽

Water Use ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Scheduling ◽

Irrigated Agriculture ◽

Main Challenge ◽

Agriculture And Food ◽

The Impact

The main challenge faced by agriculture is to produce enough food for a continued increase in population, however in the context of ever-growing competition for water and land, climate change, droughts and anthropic water scarcity, and less-participatory water governance. Such a context implies innovative issues in agricultural water management and practices, at both the field and the system or the basin scales, mainly in irrigation to cope with water scarcity, environmental friendliness, and rural society welfare. Therefore, this special issue was set to present and discuss recent achievements in water, agriculture, and food nexus at different scales, thus to promote sustainable development of irrigated agriculture and to develop integrated approaches to water and food. Papers cover various domains including: (a) evapotranspiration and crop water use; (b) improving water management in irrigated agriculture, particularly irrigation scheduling; (c) adaptation of agricultural systems to enhance water use and water productivity to face water scarcity and climate change; (d) improving irrigation systems design and management adopting multi-criteria and risk approaches; (e) ensuring sustainable management for anthropic ecosystems favoring safe and high-quality food production, as well as the conservation of natural ecosystems; (f) assessing the impact of water scarcity and, mainly, droughts; (g) conservation of water quality resources, namely by preventing contamination with nitrates; (h) use of modern mapping technologies and remote sensing information; and (i) fostering a participative and inclusive governance of water for food security and population welfare.

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Climate Change Beliefs And Vulnerability Among Farmers In The Upper Corn Belt

10.21203/rs.3.rs-660342/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Mae A Davenport ◽

Amelia Kreiter ◽

Kate A. Brauman ◽

Bonnie Keeler ◽

J. Arbuckle ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Climate Models ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Corn Belt ◽

Irrigated Agriculture ◽

Drought Severity ◽

Climate Projections ◽

Drought Risk ◽

Drought Vulnerability

Abstract Anticipatory water management must reflect not only future climatic conditions, but also the social and psychological dimensions of vulnerability that drive adaptation. Compared to the western U.S., farmers in the upper Corn Belt have had less exposure to extreme drought and have lower rates of irrigation adoption. If climate change threatens to increase drought frequency or severity in the Corn Belt, transitioning from rain-fed agriculture to irrigated agriculture would require systemic changes and significant financial investments. Knowing what drives perceptions and feelings of drought vulnerability will improve understanding and anticipation of farmer adaptation behaviors such as irrigation. We surveyed central Minnesota agricultural producers about their perceptions of water scarcity in two groundwater management areas where climate models show heightened variability in water supply during the growing season. We examined the influence of farmer beliefs about climate change, drought risk, farm sensitivity to drought, and adaptation capacity. We presented farmers with scenarios of drought severity derived from downscaled climate projections and asked farmers about their likelihood of adopting irrigation technologies or expanding irrigation extent. Findings indicate that many farmers feel vulnerable to climate and drought-related impacts, in part because they believe water scarcity is an imminent problem. Farmers believe humans are at least partially responsible for climate change, near-term droughts are likely, and their farms are particularly sensitive to drought stress.

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Implementing Sustainable Irrigation in Water-Scarce Regions under the Impact of Climate Change

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10081120 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 1120 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Georgios Nikolaou ◽

Damianos Neocleous ◽

Anastasis Christou ◽

Evangelini Kitta ◽

Nikolaos Katsoulas

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

Irrigated Agriculture ◽

Cultivation Systems ◽

Protected Cultivation ◽

Water Scarce ◽

Sustainable Irrigation ◽

The Impact

The sustainability of irrigated agriculture is threatening due to adverse climate change, given future projections that every one in four people on Earth might be suffering from extreme water scarcity by the year 2025. Pressurized irrigation systems and appropriate irrigation schedules can increase water productivity (i.e., product yield per unit volume of water consumed by the crop) and reduce the evaporative or system loss of water as opposed to traditional surface irrigation methods. However, in water-scarce countries, irrigation management frequently becomes a complex task. Deficit irrigation and the use of non-conventional water resources (e.g., wastewater, brackish groundwater) has been adopted in many cases as part of a climate change mitigation measures to tackle the water poverty issue. Protected cultivation systems such as greenhouses or screenhouses equipped with artificial intelligence systems present another sustainable option for improving water productivity and may help to alleviate water scarcity in these countries. This article presents a comprehensive review of the literature, which deals with sustainable irrigation for open-field and protected cultivation systems under the impact of climatic change in vulnerable areas, including the Mediterranean region.

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Global Economic and Food Security Impacts of Demand-Driven Water Scarcity—Alternative Water Management Options for a Thirsty World

Water ◽

10.3390/w10101442 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (10) ◽

pp. 1442 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Victor Nechifor ◽

Matthew Winning

Keyword(s):

Water Management ◽

Food Security ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Relative Size ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Resource Base ◽

Management Options ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Water Uses

Global freshwater demand will likely continue its expansion under current expectations of economic and population growth. Withdrawals in regions which are already water-scarce will impose further pressure on the renewable water resource base threatening the long-term availability of freshwater across the many economic activities dependent on this resource for various functions. This paper assesses the economy-wide implications of demand-driven water scarcity under a ‘middle-of-the-road’ socio-economic development pathway by considering the trade-offs between the macroeconomic and food security impacts. The study employs a global CGE model comprising an advanced level of detail regarding water uses across economic activities and which allows for a sector-specific endogenous adaptation to water scarcity. A sustainable withdrawal threshold is imposed in regions with extended river-basin overexploitation (India, South Asia, the Middle East, and Northern Africa) whilst different water management options are considered through four alternative allocation methods across users. The scale of macroeconomic effects is dependent on the relative size of sectors with low-water productivity, the amount of water uses in these sectors, and the flexibility of important water users to substitute away from water inputs in conditions of scarcity. The largest negative GDP deviations are obtained in scenarios with limited mobility to re-allocate water across users. A significant alleviation is obtained when demand patterns are shifted based on differences in water productivity, however, with a significant imposition on food security prospects.

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INADEQUATE SUPPLY OF WATER IN AGRICULTURE SECTOR OF PAKISTAN DUE TO DEPLETING WATER RESERVOIRS AND REDUNDANT IRRIGATION SYSTEM

Water Conservation and Management ◽

10.26480/wcm.01.2021.13.19 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 13-19

Author(s):

Saima Nasreen ◽

Muhammad Aqeel Ashraf

Keyword(s):

Water Supply ◽

Water Scarcity ◽

Distribution Systems ◽

Irrigation System ◽

Low Cost ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Agricultural Productivity ◽

Wastewater Reuse ◽

Farming System ◽

Agriculture Sector

Present study aim is to reveal current situation of water availability for agricultural productivity through factors responsible for water depletion and improper use of irrigation water. The paper discuses major problems identify future scenario and suggests making policies implementation to increase agricultural productivity in Pakistan. In Pakistan, agricultural productivity decreases due to the facts that the available natural water resources get depleted due to pollution, silting in reservoirs, leaching, salinity etc leads to water scarcity. It’s a world known fact that Pakistan is an agricultural country; however, the irrigation traditional methods used here are a major reason to decrease the yield per drop. Moreover, certain considerations like barriers to technical adaptation, farming system practices for enhancing water productivity, integrated land and water management, water logging and reclaiming irrigated lands needs to be implemented to fulfill the sufficient water supply for agricultural lands. Protection of water sources, wastewater reuse, low-cost water supply and treatment systems, impacts of farming practices, climate change effects and efficiency of water transport and distribution systems are the key points needs to execute to overcome the water scarcity problem for agriculture sector. Water governance, technology transfer and knowledge sharing are mandatory for the sustainable agricultural development.

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IMPROVING WATER PRODUCTIVITY IN CROP-LIVESTOCK SYSTEMS OF DROUGHT-PRONE REGIONS: EDITORIAL COMMENT

Experimental Agriculture ◽

10.1017/s0014479710001031 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 47 (S1) ◽

pp. 1-5 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

TILAHUN AMEDE ◽

SHIRLEY TARAWALI ◽

DON PEDEN

Keyword(s):

Water Scarcity ◽

Water Productivity ◽

Climatic Variability ◽

Weather Conditions ◽

Water Shortage ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

Irrigated Agriculture ◽

Marginal Lands ◽

Food And Feed ◽

Livestock Systems

Crop-livestock systems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are mostly rainfall-dependent and based on fragmented marginal lands that are vulnerable to soil erosion, drought and variable weather conditions. The threat of water scarcity in these systems is real, due to expanding demand for food and feed, climate variability and inappropriate land use (Amede et al., 2009). According to recent estimates, farming, industrial and urban needs in developing countries will increase water demand by 40% by 2030 (FAO, 2009). Water shortage is expected to be severe in areas where the amount of rainfall will decrease due to climate change. The lack of capacity of communities living in drought-prone regions to respond to market opportunities, climatic variability and associated water scarcity also results from very low water storage facilities, poverty and limited institutional capacities to efficiently manage the available water resources at local, national and basin scales. The spiral of watershed degradation causes decline in water budgets (Awlachew and Ayana, 2011), decreases soil fertility and reduces farm incomes in SSA (Amede and Taboge, 2007) and reduces crop and livestock water productivity (Descheemaeker et al., 2011). In areas where irrigated agriculture is feasible, there is an increasing demand for water and competition among different users and uses.

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Water Productivity of Tree Wind Break Agroforestry Systems in Irrigated Agriculture – an example from Ferghana Valley, Kyrgyzstan

Trees, Forests and People ◽

10.1016/j.tfp.2021.100085 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 100085

Author(s):

Niels Thevs ◽

Kumar Aliev ◽

Roland Lleshi

Keyword(s):

Water Productivity ◽

Agroforestry Systems ◽

Irrigated Agriculture ◽

Ferghana Valley

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Forest Cover Change, Households’ Livelihoods, Trade-Offs, and Constraints Associated with Plantation Forests in Poor Upland-Rural Landscapes: Evidence from North Central Vietnam

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11050548 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (5) ◽

pp. 548 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Quy Van Khuc ◽

Tuyet-Anh T. Le ◽

Trung H. Nguyen ◽

Duy Nong ◽

Bao Quang Tran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Household Income ◽

Shifting Cultivation ◽

Current Status ◽

Plantation Forest ◽

North Central ◽

Rural Landscapes ◽

Plantation Forests ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Central Vietnam ◽

Total Household Income

Vietnam’s forests have experienced a notable transformation over the past 20 years from net deforestation to reforestation and expanding forests. Continued reforestation that aims to achieve further economic and environmental benefits remains a national priority and strategy. We explore the current status of plantation forests and highlight possible means to facilitate their expansion in the uplands of Vietnam. We employ mixed method triangulation to empirically explore plantation forests and their economic role in household livelihood, to quantify trade-offs between plantation forests and shifting cultivation, and to assess the constraints on plantation forest expansion in Nghe An province, north-central Vietnam. Results show that forest in the study area expanded by 406,000 ha (71.1%) between 1990 and 2016. Plantation forests increased by nearly 500% (from 32,000 ha to 190,000 ha), while natural forests expanded by 48.1% (from 538,000 ha to 797,000 ha). Plantation forests contributed an average of 35.1 percent of total household income in wealthier households and 27.9 percent of income in poor households. Switching from shifting cultivation to plantation forests would increase total household income and average carbon stock but decrease food provision. Total Economic Value would be higher for plantation forest scenarios if increased carbon stocks in plantations can be monetized. This carbon income might drive conversion of shifting cultivation to plantation forests. Constraints on further expansion of plantation forest are low external cooperation, education, market stability, and agroforestry extension services. Our empirical results inform national plantation forest development, sustainable upland livelihood development, and climate change mitigation programs to ultimately facilitate forest transition and improve the resilience and sustainability of socio-ecological systems.

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