Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa

Having spent some more time researching the water and food theme since my last post, I believe it is of use to provide some initial context and an understanding of agricultural water use in Sub-Saharan Africa. This context will then provide a foundation for further posts on the issues and opportunities surrounding water and food in sub-Saharan Africa. Following Taylor’s (2004) definition, this blog refers to agricultural use as both the irrigation of arable land and the watering of livestock.

Hoekstra and Mekonnen (2012) observe that in almost all countries, the water footprint of agricultural production occupies the largest share of the country’s total water footprint. While estimates are inherently imprecise being both based upon irrigation estimates and comparative analyses with similar countries, sub-Saharan Africa appears to conform to this pattern with the agricultural sector comprising of approximately 80% of all freshwater withdrawals (Taylor 2004; FAO n/d). 

Agriculture as a sector is hugely important to the economy of most sub-Saharan countries, with small-holder farms usually accounting for up to 75% of the workforce (i.e. Ethiopia, Mozambique and Rwanda (see Figure 1.) and 50% of GDP (I.e. Ethiopia) (WFN n/d). These small-holder farms are extremely important in sub-Saharan Africa, on average making up 80% of the sector and often accounting for over 90% of agricultural output, offering a stark contrast from the industrialised agricultural model found in places such as Northern America.

Figure 1.  A small-hold farmer in Nyagatare, Rwanda (WLE 2015)

With agriculture representing such a large proportion of productivity and employment in sub-Saharan countries, it could easily be assumed that they would be self-sufficient in food production. However, in reality the region still suffers from food insecurity, facing considerable challenges to produce sufficient food (Sasson 2012). Allan (2003) has suggested the root cause of this may be because much of sub-Saharan Africa lacks total water self-sufficiency, this form of sufficiency would require national economies have sufficient local water to cater for domestic use, industrial and service use as well as water for agricultural production.

A recent study by Xie (et al. 2018) of seven countries across sub-Saharan Africa found all countries use water resources to produce export goods and import goods from elsewhere, more importantly they found that only 1/7 countries (Ethiopia) was a net virtual blue water (surface or groundwater) exporter. All seven countries were net virtual green water (rain-fed) exporters with Ghana exporting 12,151 Mm³ /yr more through rain-fed agriculture than it imported. These statistics are partially representative of the nature of farming in sub-Saharan Africa with over 90% of agricultural land reliant on being rain-fed, however they also symbolise the high and growing dependency on imports in many sub-Saharan countries to mitigate lagging crop yields of major staples (see Figure 2.) (Xie et al. 2018). With agriculture being relied on so heavily by vast proportions of the population, it seems the most obvious solution to poverty reduction is agricultural improvement. The next few blogs will revisit this point, focusing on the expansion of irrigation and alternative adaptive practices in sub-Saharan Africa.

Figure 2. Line graph showing the increasing imports to sub-Saharan Africa (FAS 2015)

With sub-Saharan agriculture facing many challenges as a result of population growth and climate change, enhancing agricultural performance is considered central to achieving both the UN Sustainability goals and wider socio-economic development (WFN). Access to sufficient water is claimed to be the main limiting factor for agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa with erratic and short rainfall periods leaving many farmers vulnerable. It is often argued sustainable agricultural development is required deliver poverty alleviation, economic growth and food security. Staple food and export crops like rice and sugar cane are frequently produced inefficiently, using more water resources and achieving less yield than the global benchmark for these crops. 'Implementing policies and practices that enhance water and land productivity in crop production would directly lead towards improved livelihoods, assisting poverty reduction while increasing food security' (WFN: n/p).