Farmer-led irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa: synthesis of current understandings

11th July 2019

Farmer-led irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa: synthesis of current understandings

Interest in irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa has revived since 2000. Compared to Asia, where more than one-third of cultivated land is irrigated, official records for sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) show corresponding statistics of just 4% to 6% of cultivated land irrigated. To meet Africa’s food needs in 2050 without increased imports will almost certainly require a considerable expansion of irrigation.

This report focuses on irrigation initiated by smallholders, ‘farmer-led irrigation’ (FLI), and addresses the following questions:

This synthesis brings together findings from research conducted under the DFID-ESRC Growth Research Programme (DEGRP) with the wider literature on irrigation in SSA.

Report by the Growth Research Programme