Nigeria is Africa’s leading rice producer, but still needs more – reusing wastewater for irrigation would boost farming: Rice is widely eaten in Nigeria. Benson Ibeabuchi/AFP via Getty Images Rice is one of the staple foods globally, ranking third after wheat and maize in terms of production and consumption. It contributes over 20% of the …
Feeding Africa: how small-scale irrigation can help farmers to change the game: A farmer watering his crops in Namong, Tone district, Togo. Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Unlike large-acreage government irrigation schemes, small-scale irrigation is typically farmer led. Farmers decide what technologies to use to extract water, be it manual lifting or …
What an irrigation project reveals about farmer-herder conflict in northern Nigeria: Resolutions should include dialogues with all parties involved in the herders-farmers conflict. Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images Clashes between herders and local farmers in several communities in Nigeria have increased in recent years. One report put the number of deaths at more than 3,641 between 2016 …
Big irrigation projects in Africa have failed to deliver. What’s needed next: Photo by Michel Huet/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images In 1938, French colonial authorities in what is today Mali started on an ambitious infrastructure plan to transform the desert into an area of agricultural production. Water was diverted from the Niger River through a canal …
How investment in irrigation is paying off for Ethiopia’s economy: Ethiopia has harnessed the value of irrigation technologies. Shutterstock After rapid economic growth averaging 10% every year between 2004 and 2014, Ethiopia has emerged as an engine of development in Africa. And there are no signs that ambitions for further growth are fading. This is …