Journal Article

Solar-powered drip irrigation enhances food security in the Sudano-Sahel

Pasternak, Dov, Woltering, Lennart, Burney, Jennifer, Naylor, Rosamond, Burke, Marshall

2010

Overview

Meeting the food needs of Africa's growing population over the next half-century will require technologies that significantly improve rural livelihoods at minimal environmental cost. These technologies will likely be distinct from those of the Green Revolution, which had relatively little impact in sub-Saharan Africa; consequently, few such interventions have been rigorously evaluated. This paper analyzes solar-powered drip irrigation as a strategy for enhancing food security in the rural Sudano-Sahel region of West Africa. Using a matched-pair comparison of villages in northern Benin (two treatment villages, two comparison villages), and household survey and field-level data through the first year of harvest in those villages, we find that solar-powered drip irrigation significantly augments both household income and nutritional intake, particularly during the dry season, and is cost effective compared to alternative technologies.

• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences,National Acad Sciences
• Subject: Agriculture / Benin / crop production / Drip irrigation / Dry season / field crops / Food access / Food crops / Food security / Food supply / Green revolution / horticultural crops / irrigated farming / Irrigation / irrigation water / Microirrigation / photovoltaic powered drip irrigation / Physical Sciences / Population growth / Pumps / Renewable energy / Sahel / Seasons / Social Sciences / Solar energy / solar radiation / solar-powered drip irrigation / Sustainable agriculture / Vegetables / Villages / water flow / Water pumps