Ouagadougou has launched a vast programme to promote micro-irrigation, with some 2,000ha already developed with this cultivation technique, thanks to 1,500 water tanks. Burkina Faso has gone from 20 pilot farms in 2019 to implementing this method in nearly 500 farms. The prospects for the development of micro-irrigation techniques are great, not only in the Sahel, but also in Southern Africa, which is also a drought-prone region. The size of the drip irrigation market in the Middle East and Africa, which Market Data Forecast estimates will be worth $572m per annum by 2025, is likely to attract specialist players to the continent. In Niger, the Israeli company Netafim is deploying this technology, with estimated water savings of between 30% and 55%. The US non-governmental organisation IDE, which has supported initiatives in Burkina Faso, has more recently conducted trials in Gambia and South Africa.
SOURCE: THE AFRICA REPORT