As climate change threatens water and food security in Africa, small solar pumps could irrigate millions of smallholder farms. But which farmers are in the right spots to benefit? The companies deploying these technologies need to navigate a complex landscape where solar irrigation must be part of a sustainable package of solutions to water scarcity, not become part of the problem. What they need, in fact, are maps.
In 2018, supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) and Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI), the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) produced solar irrigation suitability maps for Ethiopia. These pinpoint areas of potential for smallholders to introduce solar irrigation without depleting water resources. Subsequently, WLE/IWMI refined and developed the earlier work into a complete toolkit for sub-Sahara Africa. Geospatial…
Photo credit: David Brazier/IWMI
