Scaling irrigation for small-scale producers: the role of private sector solutions
Climate change is already hitting the world's poorest regions hard: millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) currently rely on rainwater to grow their crops, with extreme climate events increasingly threatening their resilience. This is where small-scale irrigation comes in. By helping farmers both cope with severe droughts and sell produce in dry seasons at higher prices, irrigation delivers improved productivity (+50-400% increase in yield vs. rain-fed), increased income (+100-350%), and improved food security (+25% available calories).
Yet, irrigation in SSA lags far behind global averages (2-5% of cropland vs. 20%), mainly due to the high operating and acquisition costs of available irrigation solutions (manual and motor pumps). Fortunately, innovative technologies (solar-powered pumps) and business models (PayGo and irrigation as a service) have recently emerged to overcome this affordability barrier. While still in early stages, such innovations have the potential to bring irrigation to an estimated 20-30M SSA households without jeopardizing long-term water resources.
In our joint report with our partner ISF Advisors (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), we have explored the current state and future potential of small-scale irrigation, articulating the investment and activities required to scale irrigation technology for farmers, and identifying opportunities for donors and investors to catalyse further investment in this sector.
Mobile irrigation as a service with bodaboda riders in Uganda (Agriworks)