Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa
South Africa is ranked among the thirty driest countries in the world, a challenge that is negatively affecting agricultural production. Other challenges such as population growth, rural-urban migration, changing food preferences and drought exacerbate pressure on agricultural water productivity. Th...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Conference Paper |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2019
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106719 |
| _version_ | 1855526300118155264 |
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| author | Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe Mpandeli, S. Nhamo, Luxon Senzanje, Aidan Chimonyo, Vimbayi Grace Petrova Modi, Albert Thembinkosi |
| author_browse | Chimonyo, Vimbayi Grace Petrova Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe Modi, Albert Thembinkosi Mpandeli, S. Nhamo, Luxon Senzanje, Aidan |
| author_facet | Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe Mpandeli, S. Nhamo, Luxon Senzanje, Aidan Chimonyo, Vimbayi Grace Petrova Modi, Albert Thembinkosi |
| author_sort | Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | South Africa is ranked among the thirty driest countries in the world, a challenge that is negatively affecting agricultural production. Other challenges such as population growth, rural-urban migration, changing food preferences and drought exacerbate pressure on agricultural water productivity. The review critically assessed the different considerations for increasing agricultural water productivity under water scarce conditions in South Africa. While under these conditions, irrigation may seem an obvious solution to increasing agricultural water productivity as a response to frequent droughts and mid-season dry spells. However, considerations on the availability of water and energy for irrigation expansion and the accessibility of irrigation services to different farming groups in the country. It is generally argued that irrigation is an expensive option and not necessarily readily accessible to most farmers.
There are prospects for tapping into South Africa’s groundwater resources but the extent to which they can contribute to expanding area under irrigation is contested given the challenges of quantifying and pumping the water. Most smallholder farmers currently lack access to water, energy, infrastructure and technical skills to irrigate thus making irrigation a challenging option in this sector. An alternative would be to explore rainwater harvesting and soil water conservation technologies, which involve inducing, collecting, storing and conserving runoff water for agriculture. The drawbacks to this are that, apart from scale issues, rainfall is becoming more erratic and droughts more frequent and hence the feasibility of this approach under frequent drought could be challenged. |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | CGSpace106719 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1067192025-03-11T09:50:20Z Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe Mpandeli, S. Nhamo, Luxon Senzanje, Aidan Chimonyo, Vimbayi Grace Petrova Modi, Albert Thembinkosi agricultural production water productivity water scarcity climate change risks drought rainwater harvesting smallholders farmers water management strategies irrigation methods water use South Africa is ranked among the thirty driest countries in the world, a challenge that is negatively affecting agricultural production. Other challenges such as population growth, rural-urban migration, changing food preferences and drought exacerbate pressure on agricultural water productivity. The review critically assessed the different considerations for increasing agricultural water productivity under water scarce conditions in South Africa. While under these conditions, irrigation may seem an obvious solution to increasing agricultural water productivity as a response to frequent droughts and mid-season dry spells. However, considerations on the availability of water and energy for irrigation expansion and the accessibility of irrigation services to different farming groups in the country. It is generally argued that irrigation is an expensive option and not necessarily readily accessible to most farmers. There are prospects for tapping into South Africa’s groundwater resources but the extent to which they can contribute to expanding area under irrigation is contested given the challenges of quantifying and pumping the water. Most smallholder farmers currently lack access to water, energy, infrastructure and technical skills to irrigate thus making irrigation a challenging option in this sector. An alternative would be to explore rainwater harvesting and soil water conservation technologies, which involve inducing, collecting, storing and conserving runoff water for agriculture. The drawbacks to this are that, apart from scale issues, rainfall is becoming more erratic and droughts more frequent and hence the feasibility of this approach under frequent drought could be challenged. 2019-09-01 2020-01-27T09:34:17Z 2020-01-27T09:34:17Z Conference Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106719 en Limited Access Mabhaudhi, T.; Mpandeli, S.; Nhamo, Luxon; Senzanje, A.; Chimonyo, V. G. P.; Modi, A.T. 2019. Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa. Paper presented at the 3rd World Irrigation Forum (WIF3) on Development for Water, Food and Nutrition Security in a Competitive Environment, Bali, Indonesia, 1-7 September 2019. 14p. |
| spellingShingle | agricultural production water productivity water scarcity climate change risks drought rainwater harvesting smallholders farmers water management strategies irrigation methods water use Mabhaudhi, Tafadzwanashe Mpandeli, S. Nhamo, Luxon Senzanje, Aidan Chimonyo, Vimbayi Grace Petrova Modi, Albert Thembinkosi Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa |
| title | Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa |
| title_full | Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa |
| title_short | Options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in South Africa |
| title_sort | options for improving agricultural water productivity under increasing water scarcity in south africa |
| topic | agricultural production water productivity water scarcity climate change risks drought rainwater harvesting smallholders farmers water management strategies irrigation methods water use |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/106719 |
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