This session is part of the 2023 Water for Food Global Institute held May 8-11, 2023 in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Irrigation is increasingly being called upon to help stabilize and grow food and water security in the face of multiple crises, such as climate change, global food and energy price crises, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war on Ukraine. While irrigation development used to focus on public, large-scale, surface- and reservoir-fed systems, over the last several decades, private small-scale investments in groundwater irrigation have grown in importance and are expected to see rapid future growth, particularly in connection with solar-powered pumping systems. But is irrigation ‘fit-for-purpose’ to support population growth, economic development, and multiple food, energy and climate crises? Over the last two decades, small-scale irrigation has increased in importance due to technological change and its larger potential away from water bodies. In many countries, individual groundwater irrigation is now larger than traditional large-scale systems. However, advances in small-scale irrigation have been uneven due to the lack of a supportive enabling environment that would allow farmers to access finance and markets. Moreover, finance for irrigation does not only relate to individual technologies or large system, but also requires finance for complementary inputs, capacity support and technology and systems providers. This session discusses how large- and medium-scale, as well as individual irrigation ventures, are and how they should be financed with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa where needs for expansion are largest. To support resilience of the sector, we will discuss what is needed to align different financing mechanisms across the irrigation continuum and provide incentives to ensure sustainable and inclusive irrigation development.
Mure Agbonlahor - Agricultural Production and Marketing Officer, African Union Commission
Soumya Balasubramanya - Senior Economist, The World Bank
Joy Busolo - Senior Water Resources Specialist, The World Bank Group
Biniam Iyob - Senior Policy Advisor, USAID
Nicole Lefore - Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation, Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture
Rachael McDonnell - Deputy Director General, International Water Management Institute
Regassa Namara - Senior Water Economist - Europe and Central Asia Region World Bank Water Global Practice
Faith Wambugu - Head of Operations and Programs, K-Rep
#irrigation #smallholder #farmers #financing
