rain clouds hover over Ethiopia central
root Valley
the destinies of the farmers here are
closely tied to the movement of these
flowers Christopher has been waiting for
the rain and now that it is finally here
he along with hundreds of other farmers
is overjoyed the fate of his crops will
depend almost entirely on the amount of
rain when there is no rain it is dry
people have no food there's no grass
even for the cows only when there is
rain the cross grows we get a good
harvest life is impossible without rain
and it's not just Christopher whose
destiny is dictated by the coming of the
rain clearly 96 percent of all
agriculture in sub-saharan Africa is
rainfall dependent the realization that
rain is often erratic has spurred many
countries in this region to try and
adopt modern irrigation techniques it is
easier said Aryan schemes are being
developed and well-planned developed and
being implemented however there are
still gaps that needs to be filled up
the extension system is also training
extension workers for rain-fed
agriculture if at all they send these
extension workers who are trained for
rain fed also to the irrigated schemes
assuming it is the same but practically
it is not the same
food security in Africa depends on
increasing productivity which in turn
depends on a short irrigation we travel
across Ethiopian Malawi to understand
how these two countries are facing up to
the challenge of irrigation
first stop
Malawi millions continue to be food
insecure here but President Joyce Banda
as government is determined to improve
the situation the goal to end poverty is
what will put away forever
food deficit in the country and also in
you know poverty poverty the government
now is doing quite a few things one of
the things is doing is a irrigation is
one of the big thrust at that moment in
my global fifty percent of the time
I'm talking about irrigation in this
ministry because that's where the future
is which means that actually if you can
irrigate it means on the same piece of
land you can grow crops two or three
times it's the same thing like you have
expanded in the land three times in 2009
the Malawi government undertook an
ambitious programme the Queen belt
initiative it seeks to make the country
independent of rain-fed agriculture
under the initiative the government
hopes to irrigate a million hectares of
land so far irrigation agriculture has
already been introduced to one part
we were targeting the whole spectrum of
farmers including the small orders
Greenbelt initiative is for thee for the
small order for the medium scale order
as well as large scale private
commercial corners with three lakes and
thirteen perennial rivers cutting across
the country Malawi has access to
sufficient water resources it can
utilize for its irrigation needs the
green belt initiative is doing exactly
that and one technique that is quickly
gaining traction is treadle pumps a good
thing about the treatment pump is that
we do not need to buy to manage it the
pump is also easy to use only one person
can manage it without any problem it's
also easy to carry it wherever you go I
find it's easier to use the water cans
treadle pumps do not require any
electricity to function for that reason
alone the technology has become popular
in areas without access to affordable
electricity and capital NGO total land
care has helped popularize system
the bumble for small farmers should use
traded pump because they do not have
enough capital and have little access to
credit with a little money they have it
was impossible for them to use the
engine pump they will have to loan money
and buy fuel for the engine at the end
they'll be forced to pay back the money
with the treadle pump they do not have
to borrow money the one drawback though
is that treadle pumps require a reliable
source of water and in areas where water
is not available in significant
quantities the system has not had much
success instead farmers in such areas
are turning to a more efficient system
drip irrigation
with drip irrigation we will be getting
more yields because we're using less
amount of water compared to using a
water can and what is going directly to
the planet with the water cans we used
to just splash the water and that water
would not directly go to the plant there
was a lot of waste of water here with
relatively low costs a small amount of
water required drip irrigation has been
touted as a viable solution for small
holders in terms of labour saving or in
terms of water saving this is the most
economical between the two was in the
Trudeau pump is the need for somebody to
constantly on the pump on the trailers
and somebody should be there full-time
also directing the water in the field
well this one you just feel the brake
ease off you go then you just monitor
how the drips are working in many parts
of sub-saharan Africa access to even
simple irrigation techniques like trip
and treadle are a challenge for many
farmers land holdings are so small
sometimes that farmers can barely make
investments in other places even the
little water required for basic
irrigation to spot exists in these cases
farmers have to find alternative
solutions
areas where rainfall is or not enough
but irrigation is also not suitable then
you have to look for other livelihoods
business could be moisture conservation
and that are tolerant to drought once a
solution is being practiced in this
village in Malawi with introduction of
drought resistant early maturing seeds
has made all the difference with
relatively less rainfall and no access
to irrigation farmers here have been
able to dramatically increase their
yields where they could only grow one
harvest a year the early maturing seeds
now allow them to harvest two even three
times each year
this time we didn't have good train
train very little the modern seeds that
we get maize and other crops mature
early so we take advantage after a
little rain that we have in terms of
quantity we harvest high yields the old
seeds used to mature very late required
much more water other interesting
solutions include crop diversification
and conservation farming farmers are
realizing that in the absence of
reliable rainfall or sufficient
irrigation it is better to grow crops
that require less water and also to use
measures to conserve the moisture in the
soil in TD village farmers employing
both these systems when we cover the
soil with the stalks it keeps a lot of
moisture in it and the ground becomes
more fertile so this way there will be
some water in the soil even if it does
not rain that much and you can harvest a
lot of produce in a small land but if
farmers are producing more they also
need to sell more access to markets
continues to be the single largest
challenge to promoting irrigation
practices in sub-saharan Africa
so in Africa one of the big problem in
Africa we don't have good rolls we don't
have good access to other input you
don't have good access to the market so
when you don't have good access to the
market for both output when you don't
have good access so you cannot buy input
quickly and you cannot sell you are very
well why invest in expensive irrigation
system that increases even if you cannot
really get all the other input that
really makes the in effect very
significant
in 1996 the government of Malawi set up
a unique irrigation project for rice
farmers in chicawa by creating
diversions of a river and building
canals farmers here were able to
irrigate their fields in time the
farmers are able to organize themselves
into a successful water users
Association and take over the day-to-day
operations of the project from the
government crucially the government
ought to provide them basic training in
marketing their produce all farmers pay
a basic fee to be part the water users
Association and this money is used as a
fund for maintaining the project the
quality of life of the farmers here has
greatly improved
Miska meow the coming of the water uses
an association is well compliment
because it is helping us improve
operations we are now able to run our
project without relying on the
government it is enabled local farmers
to organize themselves and be able to
repair any broken things whenever
there's a problem the members sit down
and discuss the way forward together to
this end
recognizing the importance of basic
training the government in Malawi has
also set up farmer business schools
across the country here farmers such as
those of the rice co-operative chikuwa
are trained in irrigation techniques
marketing fundamentals and actual
processing these schools are run by
malawi strong network of extension
workers and the primary focus is to
ensure an agro economy comprising of
well-trained informed farmers
they have changed their attitudes
towards farming as a business before
they didn't take farming as a business
this time we are taking family as a
business the second one is they have
improved both yields plus profits in the
end irrigation is going to be the major
contributor to the economy of the
country and Malawi hopes its farmers
will be the driving force behind that
economy the country's farmer business
schools are seeing record turnouts
helping farmers become self-sufficient
and secure their futures
my life is greatly changed thanks to the
training I can now send my children to
school I managed to buy some pigs and
also some iron sheets for my house I
cannot see myself leaving the
co-operative because I don't want to go
back to my former life where I was
suffering from deep poverty firma la vie
we head over CTO Pia once synonymous
with hunger and poverty the country has
since come a long way
drastically reducing its food gap let's
the irrigation sector continue to linger
in infancy largely due to a lack of
efficient extension services and capital
irrigation projects are frequently
launched and then they falter even
faster despite its vast network of
extension workers farmers remain
woefully ill informed about modern
irrigation techniques and are still
completely dependent on the rain
irrigation practices in Africa
irrigation projects in Ethiopian
particular are not very successful if
you go to the research result about 30
percent of the irrigation systems failed
or they're only suboptimal operating if
you take the case of Ethiopia about 95
percent of agricultural activity is
based on rented irrigation plays four to
five percent in terms of production
to increase its irrigation led
agriculture the Ethiopian government
launched a pilot irrigation project in
DoDEA in the South in 2001 its aim was
to help farmers grow beans which could
be exported to the international market
by 2012 the project size has dotted with
broken pipes and disused pumps the
farmers are now once again waiting for
the rain which our Trudeau teacher to
find out where this project went wrong I
operate the motor pump if it breaks I
reported to the chairman and afterwards
the mechanics come and maintain it but I
cannot repair it myself
I need training to be able to do that me
I can only switch it on and switch it
off many farmers in the area do not feel
they have a stake in the project and
extension workers are not been able to
transfer the project's maintenance to
the local community the government has
not been able to repair the irrigation
infrastructure on-site because of a lack
of capital sadly this project and many
others such as this one continue to
remain in a state of disrepair across
Ethiopia we have to have to pay from
abroad there is a money problem have the
currency problem
I wear myself the farmers the lack of
capital to enhance crucial
infrastructure is one of a key obvious
biggest challenges in the irrigation
sector private investors in irrigation
are few and far between in fact brute
DESFire miquellee is the only proud
company in the country that manufactures
irrigation equipment their market is
mostly large commercial farmers who have
the means available to invest
there is a lack of inner or adequate
investing in capital so that's why many
companies are just looking for the
potential of the agricultural
technology to start when it is going to
be related or practice but now most of
the private farmers and most of the
so more farmers are using traditional
way of farming system that's why people
are not ready to introduce the
irrigation technology systems back to
the country small farmers are only able
to access blue Tesla's technology with
financial support from either the
government or donor agencies modern
irrigation technology is still and
affordable for most farmers in Ethiopia
and even when they manage to access the
equipment they're left to their own
means if and when it breaks down
it's a problem of operation and
maintenance there is a problem of
insurance you buy pump it collapses you
cannot maintain there is no maintenance
center where you bring it there is no
insurance to cover you post so far mr.
reluctant why should they buy pump and
lose after one our vessel even before
any harvest if European government
recognizes the need for more developed
irrigation sector its growth and
transformation plan launched in 2010
aims to increase the area under
irrigation six-fold over the next five
years the lack of infrastructure and
technology are proving to be the
government's biggest obstacles its
preferred solution is to attract foreign
direct investment in the agriculture
sector nearly 10% of all arable land in
Ethiopia is now held by foreign
investors large farms like Ethio reg
frou a joint venture between commercial
farmers from Ethiopia and the
Netherlands are cropping up all over the
country
it will also help us to transfer to the
general environment as a country and
also to faith employment and the cars
exported isn't safe for it for the next
day every day and land has become
Ethiopia's most valuable resource in
2011 alone
the Ethiopian Greece nearly 3,6 million
hectares to foreign commercial investors
producing high-value crops for the
international market it is hoped that
these investors will develop
sophisticated irrigation infrastructure
in this land but whether this policy
will yield long-term benefits for
Ethiopia remains to be seen
many believe that these deals have one
major flaw the failure to treat water as
an economic resource and direct
investors coming
like for example from Saudi people think
they are coming for land but there is
ample land in Saudi Arabia so they are
not coming for land but they are coming
for water yes we have to benefit from
the water but the water should be
factored in in the calculation the move
is also triggered fear amongst the local
communities since all land in Ethiopia
is owned by the government it can be
withdrawn for farmers any time if the
government so chooses
there is big investment going on in this
area all the investors are here and
they're taking away a lot of land it was
not like this before
and now we don't know what will happen
to our land if the government takes our
land it will be a disaster for us as the
Sun sets in the central Rift Valley most
farmers still go to bed wondering if the
next day will bring any rain for
sub-saharan agriculture to progress
nothing is more important than giving
farmers the means to stop relying on the
rain
you