Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure

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:...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Mutiro, J., Lautze, Jonathan F.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Wiley 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/77516
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author Mutiro, J.
Lautze, Jonathan F.
author_browse Lautze, Jonathan F.
Mutiro, J.
author_facet Mutiro, J.
Lautze, Jonathan F.
author_sort Mutiro, J.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
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.
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spelling CGSpace775162025-06-17T08:24:05Z Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure Mutiro, J. Lautze, Jonathan F. irrigation schemes irrigation development irrigation systems irrigated land sprinkler irrigation flood irrigation pumping literature investment maize crops vegetables sugarcane 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. 2015-04 2016-11-01T13:39:42Z 2016-11-01T13:39:42Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/77516 en Limited Access Wiley Mutiro, J.; Lautze, Jonathan. 2015. Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure. Irrigation and Drainage, 64:180-192. doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.1892
spellingShingle irrigation schemes
irrigation development
irrigation systems
irrigated land
sprinkler irrigation
flood irrigation
pumping
literature
investment
maize
crops
vegetables
sugarcane
Mutiro, J.
Lautze, Jonathan F.
Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure
title Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure
title_full Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure
title_fullStr Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure
title_full_unstemmed Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure
title_short Irrigation in southern Africa: success or failure
title_sort irrigation in southern africa success or failure
topic irrigation schemes
irrigation development
irrigation systems
irrigated land
sprinkler irrigation
flood irrigation
pumping
literature
investment
maize
crops
vegetables
sugarcane
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/77516
work_keys_str_mv AT mutiroj irrigationinsouthernafricasuccessorfailure
AT lautzejonathanf irrigationinsouthernafricasuccessorfailure