ABSTRACT
Sub-Saharan Africa is largely agrarian. Yet the region has the unique distinction of having the lowest level of cereal yields and agricultural productivity growth rates (Rosegrant et al., 2001; von Braun, 2007; FAO, 2006). The region is the most water-stressed in the world (UN HDR, 2006). Yet only a small fraction of the utilizable water resources of the region have so far been tapped (Falkenmark and Rockström, 2004). In the absence of other economic opportunities in rural areas, poverty reduction is closely linked to water development for irrigated agriculture (FAO, 2007). However, the region is yet to see significant investment in water resources development, including irrigation development (Rosegrant et al., 2001). The region suffers from inadequate human resource capacities in the water sector, as well as from poor finances (Falkenmark and Rockström, 2004). It is, thus, also the most food insecure region in the world (IFPRI, 2011; Weismann, 2006), depending largely on donor aid and food imports (von Braun, 2007).
