Abstract
Starting in the 1970s, the Senegalese Government invested in the development of irrigated schemes in the Senegalese part of the Senegal River Valley (S-SRV). From that time to 2012, the irrigated schemes increased from 10,000 ha to more than 110,000 ha. In the meantime, the economic viability of these schemes started to be questioned. It also appeared that the environmental health and social costs might outweigh the benefits of irrigation. Using a life cycle assessment approach and project cost-benefits modelling, this study (i) quantified the costs and benefits of the S-SRV irrigated rice production, (ii) evaluated the costs and benefits of its externalities and (iii) discussed the irrigated rice support policy. The net financial revenues from the irrigated schemes were positive, but their economic equivalences. The economic return rate (EER) was below the expected 12% and the net present value (NPV) over 20 years of the project represented a loss of about US$-19.6 million. However, if we also include the project’s negative externalities, such as the reduced productivity of the valley ecosystems, protection cost of human health, environmental degradation and social impacts, then the NPV would be much worse, approximately US$-572.1 million. Therefore, the results show that to stop the economic loss and alleviate the human suffering, the S-SRV development policy should be revised using an integrated approach and the exploitation technology should aim at environmental sustainability. This paper may offer useful insights for reviewing the current Senegalese policies for the valley, as well as for assessing other similar cases or future projects worldwide, particularly in critical zones of developing countries.
Highlights
The construction of large-scale dams for irrigation is in the political agenda of several developing countries, aiming at increasing their local food production and promoting food security
The sustainability assessment and modeling results are detailed in five sections: (1) productivity of the Senegal part of the Senegal River Valley (S-SRV) irrigated schemes, (2) other S-SRV productions related to the irrigated schemes, (3) impacts of the irrigated schemes on human health, (4) impacts on environment, and (5) social impacts
Financial Benefits Following the SAED convention, the financial costs and benefits were calculated for one hectare-season and not for the hectare during the whole year
Summary
The construction of large-scale dams for irrigation is in the political agenda of several developing countries, aiming at increasing their local food production and promoting food security. The total population grew from approximately 3.2 million to 15 million inhabitants (World Bank, 2015) and, the per capita consumption of rice increased from 51 kg per person a year to 100 kg per person a year, respectively During this rapid consumption growth, the Senegalese Government started to promote the local rice production and develop the irrigated rice production schemes (Dieng and Gueye, 2005; Ministère de l’Agriculture, 2009) in order to improve local welfare and to reduce rice imports and foreign currency expenses. To this purpose (among others), Senegal, jointly with Guinea, Mali and Mauritania launched a program for the construction of dams in the Senegal River, crossing the four countries
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
