Africa’s agricultural productivity is the lowest in the world—in part because of the underuse of irrigation

Per capita agricultural output in Africa is 56 percent of the world average. Output has not kept pace with the population, and more than 80 percent of output growth since 1980 has come from the expansion of cropped areas, rather than from greater productivity of areas already cultivated. Climate change and global food-price crises are likely to hit Africa disproportionately, lowering agricultural performance still more.

A more reliable year-round supply of products, higher and more uniform quality of products, and the option to manipulate harvest dates to capture higher seasonal prices put a high premium on irrigation. Yet today less than 5 percent of Africa’s agricultural land—some 6 million hectares concentrated in a handful of countries—is equipped for irrigation. In this small land area, almost a quarter of the total value of Africa’s agricultural output is produced, confirming the potential of irrigation to improve agricultural productivity (see table).

Expansion of irrigated areas has been slow. Over the last 40 years, only 4 million hectares of new irrigation have been developed, far and away the smallest expansion of any region. Over the same period, China added 25 million hectares; India, 32 million.
 

Selected irrigation investment indicators for Sub-Saharan Africa (percent)