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Greener Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 6 (4), pp. 151-158, April 2016.

 ISSN: 2276-7770  

Review Paper

Manuscript Number: 022616046


(DOI: http://doi.org/10.15580/GJAS.2016.4.022616046)

 

Agricultural Water Management in Sub – Sahara Africa: Options for
Sustainable Crop Production

 

Agada Odu Odo

 

Department of Crop Science,
Faculty of Agriculture, Unversity Putra, Malaysia,43400, Serdang, Selangor.


Abstract

In spite of her vast resource base, the majority of the population of Sub – Saharan Africa remain in a poverty  trap engendered largely by poor agricultural
productivity. One of the culprits for this consistently low agricultural
performance is the poor management
of her agricultural water resources. This paper reviews the current state of agricultural water management in the
region and considers a number of the options available for sustainable
intensification. The paper advocates
an enlightened development of irrigation
as part of a new perspective for improving rainfed agriculture. This
perspective considers it a waste to seek system
sustainability and resilience whilst the key players are incapacitated
by poverty. The paper, therefore, recommends that any policy or strategy for
productivity growth must be driven by the primary goal of empowering farmers as
the main focus and not just a by-product of
productivity improvement. To achieve this, improving water management in
rainfed system appears the best
option.

 

Keywords: Water harvesting, In-field water
management, Sub-Saharan Africa, Water management, Poverty trap.

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