If irrigated production is to make a significant contribution to food security and economic growth in Sub Saharan Africa, it will have to be re-structured across the region as a whole. This is the main conclusion of a study undertaken by FAO to analyse the drivers of demand for irrigated production in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Steeply rising commercial food import bills for staple crops across SSA are indicative of the level demand that is not being met from domestic production. The increase of area under equipped/spate irrigation for the whole of Africa over the last ten years amounts to 1.27 million ha, which is equal to about 127 000 ha a year. This rate of growth has proved too low to have an impact on food import bills and buffer regional food security. However, within subregional trading groups there is scope for consolidation of market supply. Irrigated production opportunities in SSA could be realised where natural resources and markets coincide, but only through a great deal more attention to costs of production, price formation, effective water allocation mechanisms, economically efficient water use and strong, responsive institutions.

Water Management in Africa and the Middle East: Challenges and Opportunities

The manual work carried out by farmers and their families is often both arduous and time consuming and in many countries this is a major constraint to increasing agricultural production. Such day-to-day drudgery is a major contributoring factor in the migration of people, particularly the young, from the rural countryside to seek the prospect of a better life in the towns and cities. Farm production can be substantially increased through the use of mechanical technologies which both are labor-saving and directly increase yields and production. This document provides guidelines on the development and formulation of an agricultural mechanization strategy and forms part of FAO's approach on sustainable production intensification.

Four other themes will addressed: politics, economics, the environment and the history of land investments in sub-Saharan Africa.

Only 4 percent of arable land in sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated, using just 2 percent of the available water resources. Furthermore, 18 percent of the area equipped for irrigation is not utilized at all and the intensity of use varies between 50 percent and 80 percent. This highlights the huge potential available for intensifying and expanding irrigated area, provided that the investments required can be successfully mobilized. However, it must be noted that if investments in irrigation are to yield satisfactory returns, investments must also be made in a series of related activities. Current global figures for the amount of private investment in irrigation confirm that good returns can indeed be achieved. Prospects for sub-Saharan Africa would be far more favorable if public development assistance, particularly foreign direct investments, did not show declining trends.

Climate change affects human health in all sectors of society, both domestically & globally. The sea-level rise, changes in precipitation resulting in flooding & drought, heat waves, more intense hurricanes & storms, and degraded air quality, affect human health. This book is an attempt to unravel the new non-traditional challenges that the UN will face in coming decades if the states fail to keep the climate change fixed at the threshold of 2 degrees Celsius as agreed at the COP 21 conference in Paris by all the states results in intra and inter-state conflict. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.