Filling Africa´s plates? - Social and Environmental Implications of large-scale irrigation-based Agriculture (Part 1)

In one of my previous posts I talked about small-scale groundwater-irrigation and its importance for food security. Now I wanna have a look at large-scale farming, which is currently promoted by many African governments and foreign investors. The Guardian e.g. headlined in 2017 “Only modernised commercial farms will fill Africa´s plate, economists warn” (The Guardian 10/10/2017). In contrast to that, terms like land and water grabs have become prominent in the media and recent studies, casting a poor light on large-scale commercial farming in Africa. But, what are its implications for sustaining food security?

Fig. 1: large-scale farm blocks in Zambia (africanfarming.org)

Large-scale acquisitions of land and water 

Large-scale land acquisitions can generally be seen as “areas larger than 200 ha contracted for commercial agriculture […]” (Johansson et.al.2016: 11472) including one or more private or public investors. These deals have gained popularity in the last decades, as 22 million ha of land have been contracted to mainly foreign investors (Johansson et.al. 2016). These often come from Europe, the US or the Middle East, triggering a shift from semi-subsistent smallholders to large-scale private investors (Baumgartner 2013). Investing in agriculture becomes more and more attractive to investors, mainly due to increasing global food demand and the tremendous opportunities for agricultural development in Africa. 

Most importantly, these large-scale agricultural schemes are closely related to water. As I have investigated before SSA has great potential for increasing agricultural productivity through irrigation (Chu 2013), but it is often the lack of infrastructure and access to required technology that prevent development. According to Chu (2013) systematic investment in irrigation-based agriculture may contribute to sustaining food security and economic growth in SSA. Scholars argue that the Guinea savannah region should be targeted most, as currently only 10% of its arable land is cultivated, creating huge potential for investment (Chu 2013). Additionally, the vital role of water is highlighted, as while 40% of South Asia is irrigated, only 4% of SSA´s arable land is (see Fig. 2). Thus, for many the key for achieving food security goals is to invest in irrigation infrastructure. However, it has to be noted here that data is lacking for large parts of SSA and the actual amount of irrigation may therefore differ largely.

Fig. 2: Share of agricultural land irrigated in 2014 (ourworldindata.org)

Social implications

Johansson et. al. (2016) argue that investors have become key players in the modernization of African agriculture. In recent years African governments have actively supported large-scale land acquisitions, as they see foreign investment as an opportunity for achieving food security. As investors often link their business ideas with development goals, including improved infrastructure, technological transfer or job opportunities (Johansson et.al. 2016), they argue that agricultural commercialization may lead to higher crop yields, thereby improving rural livelihoods. A shift from smallholders to large-scale agricultural production may diversify employment opportunities, which leads to higher wages (Baumgartner 2013). Additionally, increasing food supply and better nutritional status will affect health and welfare of local dwellers (Baumgartner 2013).  

Moreover, spillover effects from newly built infrastructure might influence productivity of smallholders e.g. by giving them better access to markets, fertilizers or machinery (Kleemann and Thiele 2015), triggering local economic growth and development of local irrigation schemes. These benefits, however, also depend on the kind of cultivated crop, policy regulations and public investments (Baumgartner 2013).

For example, welfare implications often depend on the “conditions under which the land transaction itself is conducted” (Kleemann and Thiele 2015: 270). As I have mentioned before, land rights are often embedded in colonial or customary systems and tend to favour elites like governments or local authorities, thereby reproducing certain power relations (Kleemann and Thiele 2015). Additionally, local dwellers, who lost land due to land deals suffer from loss of income that cannot be compensated by low-paid jobs at the new farms or reparation payments (Kleemann and Thiele 2015). Thus, big private investors might gain both economic and political power, thereby pursuing their own economic interests and not necessarily food security. Furthermore, about 97% of the land under contracted deals is not cultivated, leaving great potential for food production and irrigation unused (Johansson et.al. 2016).  

Short Summary

Let´s take a sec to summarize our discussion so far: For both foreign investors and many African governments large-scale irrigation is seen as an essential means of modernizing African agriculture. Large-scale irrgiation may even contribute to sustaining food security and improving rural livelihoods, e.g. by technology spillovers, improved infrastructure and stimulation of markets. Nevertheless, the success of these side effects is often dependent on the conditions of the land deal and the efficiency of these large-scale irrigation schemes. Thus, its actual impact on rural smallholders and food security is difficult to evaluate and there is little prove for positive effects on the local economy.

I´ll continue this post next week, when I´m gonna investigate the environmental implications of large-scale irrigation. Additionally, I´ll look at public-private partnerships as an example of involving local people in large-scale agricultural schemes.