Can Sub-Saharan Africa feed itself? The role of irrigation development in the region’s drylands for food security

Hua Xie, Nicostrato Perez, Weston Anderson, Claudia Ringler and Liangzhi You

Water International, 2018, vol. 43, issue 6, 796-814

Abstract: This paper assesses the potential role of investments in irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa in improving food security and self-sufficiency in the region. Focusing on the region’s drylands, the study identifies a potential for expanded irrigated area of 6–14 million hectares (ha), depending on technology costs and other factors. Linkage of these results with a global agricultural trade model shows that accelerated irrigation investment can effectively reduce growing food import dependency from 54% under a business-as-usual scenario to a much smaller 17–40%; and can also reduce the population at risk of hunger and child under-nutrition.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1080/02508060.2018.1516080

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