Exploring the irrigation potential
in peri-urban landscapes
Olufunke Cofie
&
Priyanie Amerasinghe
Presentation at the SRP Irrigation Workshop
ILRI, Addis Ababa. 24 May, 2012
This Session
Describe the space: peri-urban landscape
Present the potential for irrigation
Highlight some research areas
Group discussion on relevance of
research areas
The Rural – Urban Continuum
Rural
Urban
Livelihoods drawn from the land - crop
cultivation, livestock, fishing etc
Livelihoods drawn from labour markets within nonagricultural production. Farming often secondary
Access to land for housing and building
materials not generally a problem
Access to land for housing very difficult; housing
and land markets highly commercialized
Access to infrastructure and services
limited
Less opportunities for earning cash: more
for self-provisioning;
Conventional farms consisting of
interdependent sub-units
Farm produce are staple crops mainly.
Large livestock.
Production factors
Low land price; Lower costs of labour; High
costs of commercial inputs
Variable cost of water
Distant markets; marketing through chain
Peri-urban interface
More distant from government as regulator
and provider of services
Closer but more vulnerable to ‘bad’ governance
Access to infrastructure and services not as limited
except for low-income groups.
Greater reliance on cash for access to food, water,
sanitation, employment, garbage disposal etc
partly unconventional farms more specialised
independent units acting in cluster
Farm produce are perishable products especially green
vegetables, dairy products, poultry,
Production factors High land price, land scarcity
Higher costs of labour; Lower costs of commercial
inputs; High cost of (drinking) water
Closeness to markets; direct marketing to customers
possible;
Urban characteristics in rural
Rural characteristics in urban location
locations- tourism, mining, high-value (agriculture, ‘village’ enclaves, easier access to
crops, diverse non-agricultural
land than the urban areas
production and strong links to cities
Adapted from Satterthwaite and Tacoli (2003) and De Zeew (2010)
Features of peri-urban landscape
• Pressure on available land and water resources
• Constantly changing environment
• Large concentration of low to middle income
earners
• Often used as dump sites for urban wastes
• Receives storm and waste water from the city
Drivers of Change in PU Landscape
Urban development
Demographic pressure
Market forces
Political factors
Climate Variability
SOCIAL
ENVIRONMENTAL
Multi-functional
Building Social Capital
• Recreational services
• Receives/ use Urban Wastes
• Reduction of Urban Ecological Footprint
• Improved Micro-climate
• Biodiversity
• Poverty Alleviation
• Social Inclusion
• Community Building
• Social Safety Net
• Food Security & Nutrition
Market oriented agriculture
• Income Generation
• Employment Generation
• Enterprise Development
• Value chain development
PU landscape serves many functions
ECONOMIC
Source: http://www.ifpindia.org/Indiapolis-Workshop-Urbanization-in-India,999.html
Trend of urbanization in Ashaiman, Ghana
(Forkor et al, 2010)
2. Potentials of PU for Irrigation
Several past studies on the potential of UPA:
• CGIAR Urban Harvest
• FAO Food for cities
• RUAF
• SWITCH
• URAdapt
• SCOPE
• IDRC’s Cities Feeding People
• UN-Habitat
• ARI, Universities
Generally, all focused on ‘spot’ studies of urban agriculture and the
immediate fringes; not much work on the PU landscape as a system
What do we know?
Freetown
Timbuktu
Roof Top Gardening, Darkar
Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
Community Based Allotment Gardens
-;
Institutional gardens with/with
rain water harvesting
Kwazulu Natal, South
Africa
Food Provided by UPA
City
Local needs met by UPA (%)
Havana
64 (rice), 58 (vegetables), 39 (non-citrus fruits), 13 (tubers), 6
(eggs)
Dakar
70-80 (vegetables), 65-70 (poultry)
Dar Es Salaam
60 (milk), 90 (vegetables)
Jakarta
10 (vegetables), 16(fruits), 2 (rice)
La Paz
30 (vegetables),
Sofia
48 (milk), 53 (potatoes), 50 (vegetables)
Shanghai
60 (vegetables), 90-100 (milk), 90 (eggs), 50 (pork, poultry )
Nariobi
50 (low income households)
Hong Kong
45 fresh vegetable,68 live poultry,15 pigs, 45 vegetables
Singapore
25 vegetables
Hanoi
80 fresh vegetables, 50 pork, poultry and fresh water fish, 40
eggs
Kathmandu
37 Horticulture crops, 11 animals, 30 vegetables
United States
70 fruits, vegetables, ornamental plants
Vancouver
70 Spinach
Source: Compiled from various sources by Cofie et al. 2003
Significance for poverty alleviation
Monthly net income from mixed vegetable farming in
selected cities in W. Africa
City, Country
Typical net income in USD
/month per farm
Bamako, Mali
20 – 200
Cotonou, Benin
50-70
Ouagadougou, Burkina
25-100
Accra, Ghana
40-50
Lagos, Nigeria
120
Source: Danso et al 2003
Significance of UA for Family Livelihood Support
City, Country
%of Households in
agriculture
Doula, Cameroon (1998)
16
Dar Es Salaam,
Tanzania (1988)
20
Nairobi, Kenya (1994)
30
Accra, Ghana (2001)
46
Kumasi, Ghana (2001)
57
Sources: Moustier (2000), IWMI (2001)
Number of cities
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Diluted
Untreated Groundwater Treated
wastewater wastewater
wastewater
or polluted
water
River
Other
Rainfed
surface
water bodies
Irrigation
canal
Open
drainage
Water Lifting & Storage
Kumasi
Lome
Food flows in and out
of Kumasi, Ghana
Peri-urban Kumasi
KMA
Peak season (PS) 57%
Food items to Markets
Lean season (LS) 88%
PS 7%
LS 4%
Markets to Households
From markets out of city
Rural areas
48%
52%
Hamburg
Beijing
Lodz
Zaragoza
Different cities, different paths to water sustainability
Chong Qing
Birmingham
Accra
Alexandria
Lima
Belo Horizonte
Cali
Tel Aviv
Use of Musi River, Hydrabad
•Adaptation to quality
•Adaptation to demands
Urban
Peri-urban
Rural
40 Km
Vegetables
Para grass
Livestock
Paddy Rice
Hyderabad
Water Quality in the Musi River
+40 Km
Irrigated agriculture in Hyderabad (QuickBird satellite image, 2006)
City of Hyderabad
27 km stretch of Musi River
Amberpet to Pillaipally
PHA Sept 2008
Periurban zone
1562 HH (6808)
Rural zone
1109 HH
(5081)
21
For the Peri-urban landscape
 Problems are becoming more complex
 Solutions need to be more holistic with new integrated scientific
approaches, new paradigms
 More demand-driven R4D outcome-oriented approach
 Emphasis on partnerships and collective action
 Need to develop a range of scientific, technological and socioeconomic and institutional solutions suited to the changing context
of the landscape
Key Questions - 1
• understanding of the dynamics of transformative processes and pressures that is
exerted on the peri-urban landscapes with reference to water availability, water
quality, accessibility, storage. and overall potential for irrigation development
• assessment of water, land availability and access in the current context and predict
future changes based on observed developments in the vicinity - implications for
irrigation and associated water investments needs;
• assessment of coping mechanisms of people who are engaged in peri-urban farming in
the face of development. Understanding how these mechanisms evolve in relation to
developmental pressures will inform the kind of irrigation innovations to adapt to the
changing environment
• innovative irrigation farming practices to cope with the dynamic changes brought on
by urban development, environmental changes and also climate change.
Key Questions - 2
• What are the administrative and market driven approaches, for water transfers,
and competition for irrigation of high value perishable vegetables and other
uses.
• Will PU areas be the sinks for urban storm water /run-off and become areas of
storage? Can we look at the water transfers, water productivity, aquifer
recharge potential, ecosystem services, livelihood aspects, economic
contribution to cities from the PU areas?
• Can we expect an ultimate scenario, where all rural settings acquire PU
features?
• Some mapping and modeling to see the water hydrology and cropping patterns
in these areas?
Key Questions - 3
• Can we have positive food balance despite urbanisation? If so, how? What is the
scope for agriculture in controlled environments like greenhouses in Periurban
areas?
• Can there be sets of greenhouses using water from harvested urban roofwater
/runoff to produce ornamentals and fruits? Can we get major agri-businesses to
explore this idea?
• What is the potential for conjunctive use of urban waste water and ground water
in periurban areas?
Possible Research Topics
Research Topic
• Mapping Changes in PU landscapes and the potential for
irrigation
1
Research Topic
• Policies and Institutional Aspects
2
• Water Demand and Allocation
Research Topic
3
Thanks for your attention
Questions,
Comments,
Clarifications???
SCENARIO IN 2012
SCENARIO IN 2030
Resources
Green growth