Land use policy and agricultural water management of the previous half of century in Africa

Mohammad Valipour

doi:10.1007/s13201-014-0199-1

Abstract

This paper examines land use policy and agricultural water management in Africa from 1962 to 2011. For this purpose, data were gathered from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank Group. Using the FAO database, ten indices were selected: permanent crops to cultivated area (%), rural population to total population (%), total economically active population in agriculture to total economically active population (%), human development index, national rainfall index (mm/year), value added to gross domestic product by agriculture (%), irrigation water requirement (mm/year), percentage of total cultivated area drained (%), difference between national rainfall index and irrigation water requirement (mm/year), area equipped for irrigation to cultivated area or land use policy index (%). These indices were analyzed for all 53 countries in the study area and the land use policy index was estimated by two different formulas. The results show that value of relative error is <20 %. In addition, an average index was calculated using various methods to assess countries’ conditions for agricultural water management. Ability of irrigation and drainage systems was studied using other eight indices with more limited information. These indices are surface irrigation (%), sprinkler irrigation (%), localized irrigation (%), spate irrigation (%), agricultural water withdrawal (10 km3/year), conservation agriculture area as percentage of cultivated area (%), percentage of area equipped for irrigation salinized (%), and area waterlogged by irrigation (%). Finally, tendency of farmers to use irrigation systems for cultivated crops has been presented. The results show that Africa needs governments’ policy to encourage farmers to use irrigation systems and raise cropping intensity for irrigated area.

Highlights

Due to the limited water resources, the role of macroeconomic policies in agricultural water management is vital and undeniable
The results show that Africa needs governments’ policy to encourage farmers to use irrigation systems and raise cropping intensity for irrigated area
Namara et al (2010) mentioned the role of agricultural water management to reduce poverty in the world via three pathways. Those are improvement of production, enhancement of employment opportunities and stabilization of income and consumption using access to reliable water, increasing high-value products, and by its role in nutritional status, health, societal equity, and environment. They preferred improving the management of existing systems as selected strategy in North Africa

Summary

Introduction

Due to the limited water resources, the role of macroeconomic policies in agricultural water management is vital and undeniable. Namara et al (2010) mentioned the role of agricultural water management to reduce poverty in the world via three pathways Those are improvement of production, enhancement of employment opportunities and stabilization of income and consumption using access to reliable water (first pathway), increasing high-value products (second pathway), and by its role in nutritional status, health, societal equity, and environment (third pathway). They preferred improving the management of existing systems as selected strategy in North Africa. The present paper shows that 46 % of cultivated areas in the world are not suitable for rainfed agriculture because of climate changes and other

Objectives

Methods

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Conclusion