Agricultural water use in developing countries is faced
with a whole array of new challenges, all within the
global context of climate change, population growth
and mounting water scarcity. A wealth of findings and
practical experience from land and water development
was gathered up to the late 1990s, but this experience
is no longer so easy to access nowadays as the subject
matter has become a niche topic over the past 15
years. Besides, the experience and findings from earlier
periods cannot simply be mapped one-to-one to to-
day's situation or future requirements. Agricultural
water use needs to be adapted to many changes and
current developments, and must prepare for special
future dynamics.
Background
Over the coming years and decades, disparities in eco-
nomic and social development in the partner countries
of international cooperation will widen further. Con-
urbations will grow, and urbanisation will advance
rapidly to mid-century. This will be accompanied by
structural change in rural regions. More and more,
subsistence agriculture will be replaced by market-
oriented farming which will be increasingly feminised.
This is because a high percentage of the male popula-
tion of working age are migrating to the conurbations.
Competition for scarce water resources will intensify.
Both urban and rural demand for drinking water is on
the rise, as is the demand for water from industry.
More water will also be needed for energy generation
in future than has been the case in the past. The water
requirements for the maintenance of ecosystem, al-
most entirely ignored in the past, need to be given
greater significance in agriculture and water manage-
ment.
The purchasing or leasing of large areas of land by
foreign investors also has an impact on the use of
water in agriculture, because only areas that are irriga-
ble or are capable of storing sufficient rain are sought
after. As a rule, the more intensively they are farmed,
the higher the demand is for water.
Market developments and price changes – both re-
gional and global – also have an impact on water con-
sumption. Higher food, feed, fibre or fuel prices make
agriculture profitable once more in many areas, pro-
vided that access to water for crop production is en-
sured.
These trends spell out a need for forms of agricultural
water use that utilise past experience while adjusting to
the challenges set out above. It is particularly im-
portant that agricultural water use is adapted to the
specific regional and local circumstances, both in rain-
fed farming and in irrigated agriculture.
GIZ's position
In this context, GIZ takes the following positions:
1. Agricultural water use must meet new demands
Existing knowledge and experience, especially
from the irrigation sector, needs to be reactivated,
but also adapted to meet current and future chal-
lenges. Within this process it is particularly im-
portant to strengthen coordination with water use
in other sectors and improve the linkage between
agricultural water use, land use and soil manage-
ment. Similarly, the impacts of climate change
have to be incorporated in planning for agricultur-
al water use.
The international private sector is playing an ever-
increasing role in agriculture. This also has to be
taken into account when considering water use.
Policymakers must keep the use of water re-
sources in mind when large areas of land are de-
veloped by private investors. It is essential to as-
sess whether or not the level of water use will be
sustainable. That will require more detailed anal-
yses and evaluations of agricultural water use in
many areas than have been performed to date.
These assessments must be based on economic,
environmental and social criteria.
2. Different regions need different strategies
Demand for water varies widely, and what is an
effective form of agricultural water use in one re-
gion need not be so in another. Across the world
there are huge differences between individual
agro-ecological regions, and even within them as
far as the needs for water management are con-
cerned. This means that the different levels of de-
velopment in various partner countries and the
different focuses of their agricultural strategies call
for distinct approaches to agricultural water use.
Differences in institutional capacity also need to
be taken into account. If water is used properly in
agriculture, it can make a major contribution to al-
leviating poverty. Too little use is made of this
substantial potential in fragile states and post-
conflict regions.
3. Local adaptation is essential for sustainable water use
The chosen method of agricultural water use with-
in irrigated or rain fed agriculture must be tailored
to suit existing farming and livelihood systems,
and build on those. This means that it is also vital
to take account of the circumstances, in which lo-
cal people live, as well as their adaptive capacities
and adaptation strategies. The influence of local
power structures and constellations of interest
needs to be considered.
4. Greater attention must be paid to aspects of risk
More attention must be paid to potential risks in
the use of water for agricultural purposes – risks at
global level but also at regional and national level
and down to local, farm and household level.
On the one hand, for example, the option to irri-
gate or drain fields can mitigate the risk of yields
being reduced or crops failing as a consequence of
unpredictable dry periods, droughts or floods. On
the other hand, the introduction of irrigated agri-
culture can also be seen as a risk factor for small-
scale farmers. This is the case when water sudden-
ly becomes available thereby significantly boosting
the value of the farmland. This may bring about
risks for smallholders to suffer silent expropria-
tions by financially and politically more powerful
farmers. Corruption in supply and marketing
chains may also constitute a risk.
Degradation of the quality of both water resources
and soil resources and of entire ecosystems as a
result of inappropriate agricultural water use can
become a problem. At the same time, the over-
exploitation and quality deterioration of ground-
water and surface water resources by agriculture
threatens sustainability of water use in many re-
gions of the world. Additionally, the discharge of
urban wastewater can become a risk factor for ir-
rigated agriculture if this wastewater remains un-
treated. In contrast, treated wastewater, however
can be a valuable complementary source of irriga-
tion water in situations of water scarcity.
Recommended actions
Agricultural water use must be set up to be sustainable
in the long term. Optimal adaptation of agricultural
irrigation systems to their specific settings is an im-
portant step in this direction. Closer regional coopera-
tion helps to achieve this, as do better institutional
arrangements. Careful risk analysis reduces the risks
related to agricultural water use, especially for small-
scale farmers.
Experience gained in the past should be reap-
praised in order to take account of new dynamics
and trends. This means that knowledge and expe-
riences gained in the past, during the many years
of intensive support for agricultural water use and
above all irrigation between 1970 and 1990,
should be made easily accessible. New develop-
ments in agricultural water use in international re-
search and development should be monitored and
interaction between research and development
cooperation should be intensified in order to facil-
itate the uptake of successful innovations.
One key objective is sustainability. Supplementing
economic analyses and evaluations with environ-
mental, socio-economic and politico-economic as-
sessments helps in this regard. International coop-
eration can promote and support this by taking a
multi-level approach in its projects and pro-
grammes.
Another important factor for sustainability is inte-
gration of interventions into higher-level territorial
land and water use planning. This can be achieved
through approaches of integrated land and water
resource management (ILWRM) embedded in the
management of water catchments and river basins.
In this context, the strengthening of cooperation
mechanisms on cross-border water management is
essential.
Adapt water use to the setting
Agricultural water use should be harmonised as
closely as possible with the local and regional set-
ting in which it takes place. This includes the insti-
tutional context just as much as the natural and
socio-economic conditions.
Paying closer attention to the local situation and
reflecting it in planning is a key determinant of
success. Examples include the state and dynamics
of local farming schemes and livelihood systems,
or the local organisational and institutional capaci-
ties and the dimensions of power structures and
interests. These factors should at the very least be
roughly analysed and recorded, and be taken into
account in the shaping of agricultural water use
systems. Recommended technologies and ap-
proaches will also vary depending on the most
limiting production factors for agriculture. At the
regional level, international cooperation can en-
courage adaptation to context-specific conditions,
for example, by supporting regional bodies in their
efforts to reply to regional demands with respect
to their agricultural water use promotion strate-
gies.
At the regional level, it is particularly important to
reappraise experience from fragile and post-
conflict states and utilise it when shaping strate-
gies to promote agricultural water use. This will
help to make a correct assessment of the potential
for agricultural water use in those countries.
Make better use of available opportunities
There is often a huge range of locally developed
technical options for agricultural water use in crop
cultivation. International cooperation can help to
ensure that these are put to even better use.
Above all, however, agricultural water use must be
adapted to existing farming and livelihood sys-
tems. This means, for example, that support for ir-
rigation by small-scale farmers must be tailored to
suit existing village-level self-government, or that
support be given for multi-purpose systems of wa-
ter use must consider simultaneously promoting
irrigation, rain-fed farming and livestock rearing as
the provision of drinking water. It is also im-
portant to take account of ecosystem services in
the design of agricultural water use schemes.
Strengthen and improve institutional arrangements
When farmers have to join together to manage an
irrigation facility as a group, agricultural water use
will not work sustainably unless appropriate insti-
tutional arrangements are in place. It is essential
that specific norms, rules and regulations are in
place and that institutions are established that can
enforce compliance with these directives. In small
village irrigation settings such arrangements can
often be brought about by means of self-
organisation of the farmers in water user groups.
Often however the overarching legal and adminis-
trative system is of crucial complementary im-
portance here. This is why efforts to improve in-
stitutional arrangements at different levels simul-
taneously must be strengthened.
Help to identify risks better
Small-scale farmers are particularly susceptible to
risks associated with water use through irrigation.
Climate change further exacerbates these risks, but
access to markets for operating inputs and for sell-
ing the products of irrigation also plays a part. The
more the farmers are aware of this, and know how
they can cope with such risks, the less their liveli-
hood is under threat. International cooperation
can help to make these threats more visible to
farmers, and it can assist in establishing risk miti-
gation strategies such as risk analyses, early-
warning systems or systems providing social pro-
tection.
It is not only weather events that pose risks, how-
ever. Corruption in the management of water re-
sources is often at least as much of a danger to
small-scale farmers. In this regard international
cooperation can make a contribution to calling for
greater transparency and accountability, thus clos-
ing doors to corrupt practices.
