The value generated by irrigation in the command areas of new agricultural dams in Africa

Abstract

Recent years have seen continued investments in new irrigation dams across Africa, which have led to the emergence of new irrigated areas in their vicinity (or ‘command areas’). The ability to irrigate land that was previously only rainfed allows for an increase in crop production and is therefore associated with an increase in the value generated by agriculture. What is the value produced by irrigation in the command areas of new major African dams? Here we use crop water modeling under a variety of crop distribution scenarios to determine the increase in agricultural value induced by irrigation in the ‘command’ areas adjacent to the major irrigation dams. We use these estimates to determine the shadow price of irrigation water in these regions along with the increase in land value and land’s economic productivity. We focus on dams built in Africa between 2000 and 2015, which are clustered in northern, east, and southern Africa. This study provides a framework to determine the economic benefits of irrigation dams and evaluate the increase in agricultural revenues resulting from access to water for irrigation.