TY - JOUR
T1 - Water-energy-food linkages in community smallholder irrigation schemes
T2 - Center pivot irrigation in Rwanda
AU - Chandra, Ankit
AU - Heeren, Derek M.
AU - Odhiambo, Lameck
AU - Brozović, Nicholas
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/11/1
Y1 - 2023/11/1
N2 - Water, energy, and food are linked in intricate ways in irrigated agriculture and understanding the interplay of these components is crucial for sustainable and profitable crop production, particularly in smallholder setting such as in sub-Saharan Africa. This study evaluates water-energy-food linkages, engineering and economic performance, irrigation decision making, and challenges faced around water management in a community-based mechanized irrigation scheme in Rwanda. The research is the first to analyze such as scheme, which uses technology typically used by large farmers in a smallholder setting. The study investigates the variation in water requirements and the relationship and impacts of this variability on crop yield for the crops grown in the scheme: maize, French beans, and dry beans. Observed irrigation decision-making analyses demonstrate a lack of irrigation planning during growth stages and significant field-to-field variation in irrigation; this is linked to yield reduction in major crops. Results suggest that farmers irrigated only 31% of modeled irrigation water in dry beans and 27% of modeled irrigation water in maize. An econometric model assessment is used to understand the relationship between yield and energy inputs. A related policy analysis considers the impacts of changes in crop and water management on field-level profits and system-level financial sustainability. This study has implications for understanding irrigation policies in the context of the water-energy-food nexus and decision-making in Sub-Saharan Africa.
AB - Water, energy, and food are linked in intricate ways in irrigated agriculture and understanding the interplay of these components is crucial for sustainable and profitable crop production, particularly in smallholder setting such as in sub-Saharan Africa. This study evaluates water-energy-food linkages, engineering and economic performance, irrigation decision making, and challenges faced around water management in a community-based mechanized irrigation scheme in Rwanda. The research is the first to analyze such as scheme, which uses technology typically used by large farmers in a smallholder setting. The study investigates the variation in water requirements and the relationship and impacts of this variability on crop yield for the crops grown in the scheme: maize, French beans, and dry beans. Observed irrigation decision-making analyses demonstrate a lack of irrigation planning during growth stages and significant field-to-field variation in irrigation; this is linked to yield reduction in major crops. Results suggest that farmers irrigated only 31% of modeled irrigation water in dry beans and 27% of modeled irrigation water in maize. An econometric model assessment is used to understand the relationship between yield and energy inputs. A related policy analysis considers the impacts of changes in crop and water management on field-level profits and system-level financial sustainability. This study has implications for understanding irrigation policies in the context of the water-energy-food nexus and decision-making in Sub-Saharan Africa.
KW - Decision-making
KW - Irrigation
KW - Performance assessment
KW - Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
KW - Water Policy
KW - Water-energy-food (WEF) nexus
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U2 - 10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108506
DO - 10.1016/j.agwat.2023.108506
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85172674697
SN - 0378-3774
VL - 289
JO - Agricultural Water Management
JF - Agricultural Water Management
M1 - 108506
ER -