WORLD WATER DAY CONFERENCE WATER FOR PEOPLE BY

WORLD WATER DAY CONFERENCE “WATER FOR PEOPLE, BY PEOPLE” Malawi’s Irrigation in Perspective Eng. Geoffrey C. Mamba department o. F irrigation www. doi. mw 21 st March, 2016

PRESENTATION BOUNDARY CONDITIONS • BACKGROUND: EXISTING AND POTENTIAL AREAS FOR IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT • COUNTRY OPPORTUNITIES • TRENDS IN IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT • DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS / INSTITUTIONAL COORDINATION • CHALLENGES AFFECTING IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT • STEPS TO BE TAKEN IN MOVING FORWARD

QUOTE “WHAT IS THAT IN YOUR HAND ? ” Exodus 4: 2, Holy Bible “Master, I knew you were such a harsh man, harvesting crops where you didn’t plant and harvesting where you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back. ” Mathew 25: 24 -25

COUNTRY OPPORTUNITIES • Malawi’s annual average rainfall varies from 7252500 mm and has a long term annual average of 1137 mm (Dept of Climate Change and Meteorological Services) • The Country has relatively abundant water resources (surface and ground) and arable land • These water systems cover ~21% of the country’s territorial area and are mostly confined to Lake Malawi and Shire River system • There are many small dams and very few large dams for storing this water

BASIC AGRO-CLIMATE STATISTICS 2011 -15 (data. worldbank. org) S/N COUNTRY PRECIPITATION (mm/yr) ARABLE LAND ( % of land area) 01 Malawi 1080 40. 3 02 Kenya 630 10. 2 03 Israel 435 13. 2 04 Namibia 285 1. 0 05 South Africa 495 10. 3 06 Zambia 1020 5. 0

COUNTRY CONTEXT…. . • The Country has plains, plateaux, escarpments, low lying lake littoral areas and significant sunshine hours which can support irrigated agriculture • 90% of the farmers practice subsistence farming on customary land. The land comprises small and fragmented landholdings totalling approximately 2. 3 million ha • In 1968, 84 % of smallholder farmers were cultivating an area >1. 5 ha but now <0. 7 ha

COUNTRY CONTEXT…… • The total developed area for irrigation is about 104, 463 ha (i. e. representing 25. 6%) out of a potential of about 408 000 ha. The developed area includes estates and smallholder irrigation management (IMPIF, 2015) • Overall there around 424, 808 household beneficiaries of smallholder irrigation schemes, but these represent only around 3. 3% of all rural households. • The private estate sector has not been growing significantly over the past 10 years (i. e. Period 20052014: Estates has slumped by 1. 5%; smallholder has grown by 255%) (Do. I Annual Report, 2014).

COUNTRY CONTEXT…… • Erratic rainfall patterns, dry spells, droughts and floods whose occurrence has increased due to climate change effects is negatively affecting rain fed agriculture • The rain-fed agriculture production decreased by about 30% in 2014/15 season. There is perception that this may decrease further in 2015/16 because of the La NINA phenomenon • In addition, food demand in Malawi has been increasing steadily due to absolute increase in population which is estimated to be 17. 7 million now (NSO) from about 3 million in 1966. • Estimated national production from irrigation schemes: 20% for cereal production and over 30% for tuber production

IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT OVER THE YEARS 2005 -2015 Category YEAR 2005/2006/2007/2008/2009/2010/2011/2012/2013/2014/2015 Private Estates, ha 48, 360 51, 000 48, 382 49, 340 50, 000 52, 499 Smallholders, ha 18, 210 25, 114 29, 640 33, 249 39, 000 42, 181 43, 182 44, 209 49, 471 52, 144 TOTALS 66, 570 73, 474 78, 000 81, 609 90, 000 90, 563 92, 522 94, 209 101, 615 104, 643

TRENDS IN IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT

WHY IRRIGATION? • Benefits from Increased irrigation development need no emphasis as this helps to: – mitigate the effects of climate change i. e. La Nina phenomena – ensure stabilization of food availability and improve nutrition – contributes to sustainable economic growth and development Evidence: § “Advised the Country’s leadership that, in the medium to longterm, they should place emphasis on investment in infrastructure and irrigated agriculture to build resilience and enhance productivity”: Executive Directors of African Dev Bank (Daily Times of March 16, 2016) § The contribution of irrigation to agricultural sector is in the range of 7 -12%. To the economy as a whole is between about 4%. This represent between US$80 -140 million or about US$850 -1550/ha (SMEC, 2014)

WHY IRRIGATION? ……. § Double cropping through irrigation enables farmers to improve their incomes from an average of € 793 (K 396, 500) to € 2, 101 (K 1, 050, 500) per annum (i. e. 2. 6 times)…GOPA, 2014 § “Irrigation has assisted my family to realise K 78 650 with an input of K 32 350 from a 0. 07 ha plot” (i. e. about 2. 4 times): Chipojola Irrig Scheme Farmers, Machinga, Field Day, 06 th Octo 2015 § A smallholder farmer growing maize would realize 1. 3 t/ha for rain-fed and achieve 3 -4 t/ha under irrigation. This is still below the optimum maize yield levels of 10 tons per hectare attained in Iowa State, USA. (Kasomekera, 2014)

IRRIGATION STRATEGIES AND OUTCOMES • The main goal of irrigation is to contribute to sustainable national economic growth and development • The strategic objective for irrigation is to increase agricultural land under irrigation thereby reducing dependence on rain-fed agriculture, increase agricultural productivity and production, and income levels at both household and national levels. • Strategic Outcomes – Increased irrigated agricultural production and productivity to 220, 000 ha by 2035. – Improved national and household incomes, food and nutritional security; – Improved irrigation service delivery; and – Increased employment opportunities

AVAILABLE TOOLS FOR IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT The Ministry has developed a number of tools to accelerate irrigation development as follows: • National Irrigation Master Plan and Investment Framework • National Irrigation Policy (Revised NIPDS) which will soon be submitted to Cabinet • National Irrigation Fund Guidelines

TOOLS: NATIONAL IRRIGATION MASTER PLAN AND INVESTMENT FRAMEWORK (IMPIF) The IMPIF is a roadmap to guide future investments in Malawi’s Irrigation Sub-Sector and coordinate implementation among all stakeholders (Covers the period from 2015 to 2035. Developed alongside Water Resources Investment Plan) The IMPIF was developed with Technical Assistance from the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation (SMEC) & funding from the World Bank The IMPIF was launched on 26 th June 2015 by the Honourable Minister Objectives are to accelerate economic growth, reduce rural poverty, improve food security and increase exports. – The IMPIF will be implemented in three phases: Phase I (20152020), phase II (2021 -2025) and Phase III (2026 -2035) comprising approximately 20, 000 hectares; 28 500 hectares; and, 67 500 hectares of new irrigation schemes, respectively. – Implementation of the plan is estimated to cost US$2. 4 billion

KEY PARTNERS IN IRRIGATION SUBSECTOR Development Partners • World Bank, African Development Bank/African Water Facility, European Union, Global Environmental Facility, Japanese Government (JICA), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) Civil Society • Civil Society for Agriculture Network(CISAnet), World Vision, Find Your Feet, Evangelical Association of Malawi Private Sector • Illovo, Eastern Produce, Malawi Mangoes, Exagris, Emerging farmers (Mpatsa Farms etc) Academia • Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) and the Polytechnic

MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED • Smallholder Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP) – On-going (2210 ha New area, 1170 ha Reh) • Agriculture Infrastructure and value Addition Project –On going (1143 ha New) • Support to GBI (989 ha) • Shire River Basin Development Project (1000 ha) • Shire Valley Irrigation Project – New- (22, 400 ha) • Programme for Rural Irrigation Development (PRIDE) – 5, 133 ha -New • 41 metre Bwanje Dam – New • Dwambazi and Linga Irrigation Project including a 15 m dam (~2, 000 ha) -New

CHALLENGES Dwindling sources of water due mainly to climate change effects and deforestation Insufficient access to land for commercial farming since most of this is under customary land tenures Vandalism /Theft of New Technologies (i. e. Solar Equipment) High vacancy rates in critical positions, especially at middle and lower levels which are affecting effective delivery of services Low funding levels to district offices is affecting operations and sustainability of irrigation schemes Bans on exports for cereals i. e. maize Poor quality of seed (low germination; low yields)

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VANDALISM

WASH AWAYS OF INFRASTRUCTURE 350. 0 Monthly Rainfall at Ukanga 300. 0 Amount (mm) 250. 0 2013/14 2014/15 150. 0 2015/16 100. 0 50. 0 - November December January February Months March April

MOVING THE IRRIGATION AGENDA FORWARD • Increase access to land, water resources (including dam construction) and energy sources for the emerging farmers and commercial farmers • Ensure that investment by the Development partners is aligned to the Irrigation Master Plan and Investment Framework • Make markets Accessible(Governments should minimize interference in commodity markets including price setting and export bans because these actions distort markets and affects farmers’ profitability and production-IWMI, 2015) • Promote easy access to information (Appropriate investmentfriendly climate: clear policies, legislation and regulatory / enforcement framework i. e. on Public Private Partnerships) • There should be financial markets with affordable lending rates

Maize Exports (Source: FAOSTAT)

MOVING THE IRRIGATION AGENDA FORWARD…. . • Increase Investments in basic infrastructure i. e. including construction of more irrigation schemes; dams (dams and intensify catchment conservation practices), good transport; telecommunication, electricity networks; • Good support services: extension; input (seed, fertiliser, chemicals) supply • Strengthen collective initiatives and partnerships (strong water users associations, cooperatives, emerging and commercial farmers) for increased irrigation production and productivity. Government should nature this through training and exchange visits. • Improve access to technologies i. e. equipment (affordable motorised pumps) and good agricultural practices • Support emerging and commercial farmers: Outgrower schemes (Kasinthula, Phata and Dwangwa), Illovo, Malawi Mangoes, Exagris, Emerging farmers

RECOMMENDATIONS Government should pass an appropriate land bill to facilitate access to land by developers There is need to construct sustainable water harvesting structures such as dams to support irrigation development. Lobby with Seed Traders Association to improve the quality of seed which is sold to irrigation farmers Treasury should consider increasing allocations for basic public infrastructure even through PPPs Intensification of farmer and community sensitisation on the need for catchment conservation and protection Introduce alternatives sources of power i. e. solar

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THANK YOU VERY MUCH!