“Irrigation is the controlled application of water for agricultural purposes through manmade systems to supply water requirements not satisfied by rainfall. Crop irrigation is vital throughout the world in order to provide the world's ever-growing populations with enough food. Many different irrigation methods are used worldwide, such as: Center-Pivot, Drip, Flood, Furrow, Rotation, Sprinkler, Sub-irrigation, Traveling Gun, Supplemental, and Surface.” (Nevada Division of Water Planning)

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Is small scale irrigation a solution in Africa?

by Boaz Yagel Ziegelboim

In Africa, most of the cultivated land, half acre to one care in average, belongs to small scale farmers who often perform their agricultural activities by practicing rain-fed agriculture. However, this is not proving to be efficient for various reasons:

·         If there is not enough rain, either the crop is destroyed or it presents very low yields.

·         From the marketing point of view; when all the small scale farmers are basing their crop on anticipated rain season, all the crops are maturing pretty much at the same time and coming to the markets simultaneously.

·         Right after the rain season, the abundance of products in the market inevitably lowers the prices. On the other hand, out of the rain season, the products are scarcer and the prices are unrealistically high. This creates instability in the market.

In some other cases, small scale farmers also use flood irrigation, which I believe, is not a proper way of irrigating the land, except for rice farming, because:

·         It is not measurable.

·         It does not fit the requirements of the vegetation, as there is either too much or too little water.

·         It makes some essential key elements of fertilization unavailable for the plant. It creates unfavorable un-aerobic conditions.

Then, what should be the solution for the small scale farmers of Africa?

            In my view, small scale irrigation is a major part of the solution. It can break the dependence of the farmers on rain; they can perform cycled cultivation, and accordingly increase their revenues on their lands. The farmers can provide their lands with the adequate amount of water, to create better yields with high performance, causing much less stress for the plants.

Furthermore, the farmers can plan to produce crops and supply the market with products when the price on the market is on the high side, which will ultimately increase their profits.

            If this solution is so easy, why have the small scale farmers not been applying small scale irrigation as they should have? Because, there are certain obstacles that need careful consideration:

·         Lack of know-how and awareness.

·         Problems in the acquisition of proper irrigation equipment either because of lack of information, or because of insufficient logistics.

·         High costs of small scale irrigation procedures.

·         In addition to these complications, there is a common knowledge amongst African farmers that they need a source of energy - diesel or electricity – for pumping the necessary water during the small scale irrigation procedures; this energy source is either not available or very expensive to obtain.

All these problems are real, and should be considered. However, to my mind;

there is a solution that might tackle these problems effectively. Within my experiences in Africa, I have come to understand that there is very effective means of irrigation that can be applied in Africa, and already those who are using it are greatly satisfied with the results. My solution is:

·    GRAVITY IRRIGATION, where water is not pumped but flows and is distributed by gravity.

With this method:

n  There is no dependency on energy.

n  It is easy to install and maintain.

n  It is relevantly much cheaper than other modes of irrigation.

By utilizing the Gravity Irrigation, small scale African farmers can solve several of their ongoing problems with regards to cultivation and marketing, and move onto a larger scale in production.