A business case to reduce rural poverty
through targeted investments in water in
sub-Saharan Africa
WWF5 Session 2.3.2. How can food market measures boost rural development and poverty – can the
current crisis benefit poor smallholder farmers or not ?
Jean-Marc Faurès
Guiding questions
•
Where and how should investments in water-related
interventions be done to effectively boost livelihoods
and reduce poverty in rural areas ?
• What is the link between access to water and rural
livlihood ?
• Where is water a constraint to agricultural
•
production and a priority for sustainable rural
livelihoods ?
Who are the target beneficiaries and where are
they?
Approach: Livelihood zoning
Areas where people share similar livelihood patterns:
•
Common key biophysical determinants
• Climate
• Resource endowment
• Agroecological conditions
•
Common key socioeconomic determinants:
• Population structure and dynamics
• Household livelihood strategies and constraints
• Main sources of food and income
• Institutions
Regional study:
sub-Saharan Africa
Main livelihood zones in SSA
Criteria adopted to assess poverty reduction
potential
•
Poverty incidence:
• absolute number and percentage of rural poor
•
Water as limiting factor for livelihoods:
• Inter-annual variability of water (prevalence of droughts)
• Water is entry point for main livelihood activities
•
Potential for water control development:
• availability of additional water for agriculture and other usages
Where are the rural poor in SSA ?
Vulnerability to climate variability
Burkina Faso: rainfall and cereal production
Poverty reduction potential across
livelihood zones
Poverty reduction potential across
livelihood zones
Water interventions
in support
to rural livelihoods
A necessary focus on smallholder farmers
Adapting approaches to smallholder’s
conditions
•Operational simplicity
•Reduced number of users
•No need for external support for operation
•Low maintenance requirements
•Limited physical and financial capital requirements
•Not always low cost or best B/C ratio
Small, divisible, farmer controlled
water supply systems
A typology of investment options
1.Manage soil moisture in rainfed areas
2.Invest in small scale water harvesting infrastructure
3.Promote small-scale community-based irrigation
4.Improve existing irrigation systems
5.Improve water control for peri-urban producers
6.Invest in water for livestock production
7.Facilitate multiple use of water
Planning: assessing the potential of
interventions
Applying the three criteria:
• Potential for development (physical)
• Water as limiting factor for livelihoods
• Poverty incidence
Potential and costs of interventions
In summary
Number of
potential
beneficiaries
245 million
58 % of rural
population
Cost
85 billion US$
350 US$/person
Essential conditions for success
Essential conditions for success
1.Ensuring enabling governance and policies
• Strengthening local institutions, conducive rural policies legal framework
2.Securing access to markets
• incl. information on prices
3.Providing complementary physical infrastructure
• Roads, market places, storage, refrigeration
4.Securing access to land and water
5.Preventing soil degradation and restoring fertility
6.Providing targeted subsidies and adapted financial packages
• Including crop insurances
7.Investing in human capital
• Access to knowledge, training, gender considerations.
Adapting agricultural support strategies
Adapting financial services
“Propositions”
(specifically for sub-Saharan Africa)
i.
When planning water interventions in SSA, consider different target groups
and different objectives:
i. Filling food production gap, contributing to economic growth: emerging
farmers possibly with good connections to markets
ii. Rural poverty reduction: focus on traditional smallholders farmers,
fishers and herders with little connection to markets. Interventions in
water primarily focusing on increased resilience of rural farmers and
reduce their vulnerability to climate variability
ii. Context-specificity: water-related interventions must be adapted to
livelihood situations and contexts, must consider basic needs and all
productive uses of water.
iii.Conducive policy environment necessary, including: food chain approach for
major staple commodities (rice, maize); adapted financial packages; land
tenure
iv. Combine water control and soil fertility management