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Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure

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Title Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure
 
Creator Mutiro, J.
Lautze, Jonathan F.
 
Subject irrigation schemes
irrigation development
irrigation systems
irrigated land
sprinkler irrigation
flood irrigation
pumping
literature
investment
maize
crops
vegetables
sugarcane
 
Description Despite widespread recognition of the importance of irrigation development in southern Africa, no comprehensive examination exists on the performance of past irrigation schemes in the region. This paper systematically examines existing literature on irrigation schemes in southern Africa in order to: (i) determine the proportion that can be considered successful; and (ii) identify and rank factors that explain variation in performance. The results indicate that some 59% of irrigation schemes in southern Africa can be considered successful. Factors associated with successful performance include: management style, irrigation method, crop mix, type of financier and geography. The levels of success identified through this review validate calls to increase the irrigated area in southern Africa. These results nonetheless highlight opportunities to strengthen the way in which future irrigation schemes are undertaken. In particular, these results may call for increased use of sprinkler irrigation and reduced use of flood irrigation with pumping. The results also suggest more investment could be channelled into schemes focused on maize–vegetable crop rotations and sugar cane, and caution applied to government management of schemes.
 
Date 2015-04
2016-11-01T13:39:42Z
2016-11-01T13:39:42Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Mutiro, J.; Lautze, Jonathan. 2015. Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure. Irrigation and Drainage, 64:180-192. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ird.1892
1531-0353
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/77516
https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.1892
Land and Water Productivity
 
Language en
 
Rights Copyrighted; all rights reserved
Limited Access
 
Publisher Wiley