International Journal of Irrigation and Agricultural Development (IJIRAD)

Water Use, Productivity and Socioeconomics of Farmer-managed Small Dam Irrigation Schemes in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Akeem Olaitan Adeniran — 2023-08-09

Food availability gaps caused by short-duration wet season and long dry spells marking semiarid regions of the world and the pivotal role irrigated agriculture plays in the economic sustenance of agrarian regions of developing countries, have informed the need to constantly monitor the performance of irrigation systems. The use of small reservoirs for dry season farming presents a viable alternative to medium and large-scale state agency-managed irrigation projects. This present study therefore evaluated the performance of two (2) small dam-based farmer-led irrigation schemes, at Baare and Winkongo, in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Performance indicators related to water availability and agricultural production, developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) were used. Data were gathered through field surveys, laboratory analysis, and literature. The relative water supply (RWS) and relative irrigation supply (RIS) for Baare were 1.11 and 1.12, respectively, indicating crop water demand was marginally matched by water supply. The abundant water available to Winkongo crops, indicated by RWS and RIS values of 2.56 and 3.17, respectively, showed opportunity for water saving and/or bringing more land under cultivation. Doing this would cause better land productivity, which the output per cropped area (OPCA) indicator revealed was unexpectedly lower than Baare. The study concluded that demographic distribution, including age and gender of the irrigation farmers, plays a limited role in the efficient use of small reservoirs for dry season irrigation farming, compared to ready availability of farmland to willing irrigators and season-round water availability. If the significant youth populations involved in dry season farming at the studied schemes are maintained for farmer-led irrigation in other parts of northern Ghana, the crisis of labour shortage is not likely to occur. This is a positive sign in the drive to reaching food self-sufficiency level (SSL) and keeping afloat the agriculture-based rural economy.

Impact of Rainwater Harvesting on Livelihood Outcomes in Northern Ghana

Abdul-Hanan Abdallah — 2023-08-09

At the heart of the global community, the commitment to end hunger, poverty, and malnutrition at all levels remains a dominant target. This remains a difficult task without improved livelihoods. However, improved livelihoods largely depend on climate-smart agricultural practices (CSAPs) that draw together sustainable productivity, resilience, and emissions reductions under one umbrella. Yet, empirical information focusing on how CSAPs affect livelihoods remains scanty despite its policy relevance. In this study, the perceived benefits, adoption, and effects of rainwater harvesting (RWH) - one of the CSAPs - on livelihood outcomes in northern Ghana are examined using a dataset from the Ghana Agricultural Production Survey. The results revealed diverse perceptions as the farmers associate RWH with production increase (68.4%), reduction of drought effects (36.6%), seasonal crop failure (24.6%), erosion from runoff (24.0%), and quantity of inputs used (13.1%) and thus, indicate the underlying reason behind the adoption of water harvesting as CSAPs. Further, the results revealed farm size, labour, gender of farmer, level of education, credit access, membership to FBO, extension access, tenure security, number of irrigation sites accessible to the farmer, soil type, and farmer’s perception as the main factors influencing the uptake of RWH in northern Ghana. Concerning the livelihood effects of adoption, RWH was found to improve yields and food security. It is therefore recommended that CSAPs including RWH techniques should remain a policy focus in drought-prone areas of Ghana. Government can focus on developing or improving existing infrastructure for rainwater harvesting in these areas

Performance Evaluation of Drip Irrigation System for Green Pepper (Capsicum annum, L.) Production in the Tamale Metropolis of Ghana

Rose Alegewe — 2023-08-09

Performance evaluation is a diagnostic tool used to identify problem areas in an irrigation system and to indicate where improvements can be made in an existing irrigation system. Performance evaluation enables irrigation managers to redesign, improve upon the design and the irrigation strategies used. This study was carried out to assess the performance of a drip irrigation system installed and managed by Motor-King Company Limited in the Tamale Metropolis. The drip irrigation system consisted of two (2) reservoirs; 1500 litres and 1000 litres polytanks mounted at 1.2 m and 3.6 m high respectively. The drip irrigation system had a 32 mm main line and 16 mm lateral line with 2.7 l/h emitters spaced at 0.3 m. Three (3) laterals and nine (9) emitters were randomly selected in each plot. Emitter discharge was measured using catch cans. Five (5) performance indicators such as emitter flow variation, co-efficient of emitter flow variation, application efficiency, distribution uniformity and statistical uniformity were assessed. From the results, co-efficient of variation (7%) was rated good, emitter flow variation (18%) was rated acceptable, application efficiency was excellent (97.0%), low quarter distribution uniformity was good (87.2%), statistical uniformity was excellent (93.0%). These results imply that the drip irrigation performed satisfactorily and can still be used to produce vegetables with minimal losses.