- In the Sahel, 64% of the population lives in rural areas and depends mainly on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihood. Despite a potential of 2 million hectares of irrigable land, only 3% of cultivated land is irrigated. For small producers, access to water for irrigation is crucial to supporting their livelihoods and ensuring prosperity and peace in their communities.
- PARIIS is the first regional project designed following the adoption, in 2013, by heads of state of the Sahel Irrigation Initiative (2IS). It focuses on the combination of simple and affordable technologies, combining local know-how to irrigate land and increase its potential.
- The project is active in more than 2,000 sites across the countries covered, with more than 20,000 hectares to be irrigated for the benefit of around 390,000 beneficiaries, 49% of whom are women. Benefits include reduced irrigation costs, increased resilience to climate change, improved farmer incomes, and increased food security.
Credit: © MediaProd, October 2023
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, March 21, 2024 -/African Media Agency (AMA)/-In the heart of Senegal, the vast lands of Saloum are breathtaking. The ephemeral greenery extends as far as the eye can see, filled with promises of the next crops. For those who live off the land, it’s time to plant and wait for nature to work its miracle.
In Keur Ali Gueye, in a two-hectare market garden area run by the Disso group, a cooperative of 40 people including 38 women, drought, rain delays and the vagaries of the climate are no longer a concern. Now the water flows continuously. Barbed wire protects the space against wandering animals. The seeds, handpicked, are already growing and promise a good harvest.
But this has not always been the case. “We had to draw water from wells by hand. The activities were very difficult for us,” confides Fatim Sarr, president of Disso. “For two years now, with the installation of the irrigation system, solar panels and fences, the work has improved. We are encouraged to produce more. »
Credit: © Renaud Ayi Dossavi, October 2023
Disso now runs three productions throughout the year. For this winter, they mainly grow corn and okra, aided by a sprinkler irrigation system. The group wants to extend its scope to five hectares to produce more.
Success arouses interest. “We already have 30 people who want to join us to increase their production. They say it’s gold here! », exclaims Fatim, between two inspections of his okra.
Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Chad: irrigation systems that leave a lasting imprint on small producers
The successes recorded at Keur Aly Gueye are the results of Regional Support Project for the Sahel Irrigation Initiative (PARIIS)financed by the World Bank through theInternational Development Association, IDA ($170 million) and by the Spanish Agency for International Development and Cooperation, AECID (30 million euros). Coordinated by the Permanent Interstate Committee to Combat Drought in the Sahel (CILSS), PARIIS wants to leave a lasting imprint on small producers in the six Sahel states.
If in Saloum in Senegal we use sprinklers to irrigate, other solutions are recommended elsewhere to meet the same needs: bringing water to the land to increase yields and fight against food insecurity.
Credit: © MediaProd, October 2023
In the Doukour valley in Chad, approximately 900 kilometers from N’djamena, a spreading weir installed in the bed of runoff water has been rehabilitated. The structure functions like a dike which retains water during the flood period and allows it to settle at depth to supply the groundwater table for several months. In this semi-arid region, 17 villages benefit directly from the work to irrigate crops.
Fattah Hassan Dubaal, head of the Adoulous group, created almost ten years ago, supervises the work with her comrades. Today with 33 women, the cooperative occupies an area of 1.7 hectares in the area of the threshold and produces vegetables for self-consumption, but also for sale.
What we do here is not just about irrigation. It is also and above all about building a well of local knowledge and know-how to inform similar missions, in the Sahel and elsewhere.
Jean François Faye,
responsible for knowledge management at PARIIS in Senegal.
Credit: © Renaud Ayih Dossavi, October 2023
“PARIIS helped us a lot with irrigation, fences, inputs, seeds and horse carts. We now cultivate three agricultural seasons a year, and our production has gone from around ten bags of market garden products to a minimum of 65 bags,” confides Fattah. “Our annual income is around 3 to 4 million FCFA per year, compared to around 500,000 previously. After current expenses, the surplus is distributed among the members. What comes to me I use to feed my children, take care of them and enroll them in school,” adds this mother of six children.
The first successes are already being emulated. “Three neighboring groups want to imitate us, while we are already turning to solving other challenges: the means of transport to reach the town of Abéché, the consolidation of our new clientele, better marketing, and the storage of our harvests which are increasingly important,” adds Fattah.
Further, in Tekane – 260 km from Nouakchott in Mauritania, Adinou Moumour Sy, agricultural producer and father of five children, supervises sowing activities. In the N’Djam ter Tekan cooperative (117 members) of which he is general secretary, rice, eggplant and watermelons are grown, among other things, on 36 hectares. “Before, it took a whole day to irrigate a hectare and prepare the seedlings. Today, we can work on three hectares per day,” he says.
Water to meet the challenges of climate change, strengthen food security, and promote prosperity and peace in communities.
Water control is a crucial necessity to mitigate the effects of climate change and make agriculture a job-creating sector, particularly in rural areas, and an engine of economic growth for the Sahel countries. A regional approach is essential to achieve this.
Chakib Jenane,
regional director of sustainable development at the World Bank
Beyond irrigation, what is at stake everywhere in the vastness of the Sahel is a silent fight against the rural exodus. Due to a lack of prospects, young people are tempted by adventure towards big cities or the West. The hope is to bring together women and men around their land, give them the means to develop them, allow them to live and prosper at home. PARIIS paves the way for greater ambitions: “We have already started discussions with governments with a view to financing a new project in the sector, which will have to extend on a larger scale the initiatives launched by PARIIS, with a view to achieving greater impacts,” adds Chakib Jenane.
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) for the World Bank
Source : African Media Agency (AMA)
2024-03-21 08:47:31
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