This report summarizes the findings of a collaborative effort to map and assess irrigated areas in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study was conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (LDARD), as part of the DAFF-supported ‘Revitalization of irrigation in South Africa’ project. Based on a combination of Landsat and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data, previous irrigated area mapping exercises carried out by DAFF and three-field ground truthing (GT) surveys, a total of 1.6 million hectares (Mha) of cropland were identified, with 262,000 ha actually irrigated in the 2015 winter season. The study also found that only 29% of all land equipped with center pivots was actually irrigated.

A survey of 76 public smallholder irrigation schemes in the Limpopo Province was jointly conducted by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), South Africa, and the Limpopo Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (LDARD), as part of the ‘Revitalization of Smallholder Irrigation in South Africa’ project. About one-third of those schemes was fully utilized; one-third partially utilized; and one-third not utilized in the winter of 2015; however, no single socioeconomic, physical, agronomic and marketing variable could explain these differences in utilization. Sale, mostly for informal markets, appeared the most important goal. Dilapidated infrastructure was the most important constraint cited by the farmers. The study recommends ways to overcome the build-neglect-rebuild syndrome, and to learn lessons from informal irrigation, which covers an area three to four times as large as public irrigation schemes in the province.

The irrigation suitability classification was achieved by using physical factors that include slope, rainfall, landuse, closeness to waterbodies (surface and groundwater) and soil characteristics for selected districts in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, and Kenya, some of the UU target countries. As cereals form the main food basket of the selected countries, and cereals are not tolerant to saline conditions, the report also provides maps showing high soil salinity areas of Makueni and Nakuru of Kenya, where soils are highly saline. However, soil salinity is insignificant in the other study districts and therefore not mapped. This report provides (a) a conceptual framework and detailed methodology for irrigation suitability mapping, including details of identified boundary maps and geospatial data, and (b) a synthesis model and maps on irrigation suitability mapping for the selected districts in the four target countries.

This edited book is focused on Sustainable Development Goal 2. It offers a comprehensive and topical collection of practices, technologies and innovations in the field of sustainable food production and security under a changing climate. It is a one-stop handbook for farmers, researchers, extensionists, policy makers and other stakeholders seeking to identify and disseminate best fit technologies for local and regional landscapes. It offers an understanding of the challenges, risks and uncertainties as well as opportunities to foster productive and sustainable food production. Smallholder farming and agriculture in general is facing a serious threat from climate change that has resulted in erratic and unpredictable rainfall and increased temperatures, among other abiotic stresses. These climate change induced pressures have reduced productivity mainly among the smallholder farmers, who are critical in driving the attainment of sustainable development goals like SDG 2, 12 and 13. The objective of the book is to document effective and practicable practices and technologies that can be adopted by smallholder African farmers as mitigation measures against the effects of climate change. This book is of interest to researchers, agricultural scientists, climate change scientists, capacity builders and policymakers.

Feminism has re-shaped the way we think about equality, power relations and social change. Recent feminist scholarship has provided new theoretical frameworks, methodologies and empirical analyses of how gender and feminism are situated within the development process. Global Perspectives on Gender and Space: Engaging Feminism and Development draws upon this framework to explore the effects of globalization on development in diverse geographical contexts. It explores how women’s and men’s lives are gendered in specific spaces as well as across multiple landscapes. Traveling from South Asia to sub-Saharan Africa to North America and the Caribbean, the contributions illustrate the link between gender and global development, including economic livelihoods, policy measures and environmental change. Divided into three sections, Global Perspectives on Gender and Space showcases the following issues: One) the impact of neoliberal policies on transnational migration, public services and microfinance programs; Two) feminist and participatory methodologies employed in the evaluation of land use, women’s cooperatives and liberation struggles and Three) gendered approaches to climate change, natural disasters and conservation the global South. A feminist lens is the common thread throughout these sections that weaves gender into the very fabric of everyday life, providing a common link between varied spaces around the globe by mapping gendered patterns of power and social change. This timely volume provides geographic comparisons and case studies to give empirically informed insights on processes and practices relevant to feminism and development. It illustrates ways to empower individuals and communities through transnational struggles and grassroots organizations, while emphasizing human rights and gender equity, and will be of interest to those studying Geography, Development Studies, International Relations and Gender Studies.