Guidelines on irrigation investment projects
- Background and purpose
Irrigation has been much appreciated for its significant contribution to global agricultural production and food security over the past 50 years. Currently, more than 40 percent of global agricultural products are produced on irrigated land, which constitutes close to 20 percent of the total global arable land. However, irrigation has also been criticized for inefficient water use, por system performance and some negative externalities, including irrigation-induced soil salinization, groundwater depletion, water-borne diseases and water pollution. To meet the requirements of the world population, which is projected to be more than 9 billion by 2050, food production needs to be increased by 70 percent globally and by 100 percent in developing countries, and irrigation is expected to be a major contributor (FAO, 2012a).
Further development and improvement of global irrigation will involve multiple challenges and merging needs, including: (i) increasing water scarcity and competition, which calls for more efficient and productive water use; (ii) rapid agriculture restructuring and transformation, which requires more reliable, flexible and diversified agriculture water services; (iii) adoption of agribusiness and value chain approaches, which implies a shift from single-headed irrigation to integrated agricultural water management (AWM); (iv) the shift from the first generation "Green revolution" to sustainable agriculture intensification, which highlights social and environmental sustainability; and (v) increasing pressure to meet growing demand for meat and dairy products linked to a combination of population growth, rising incomes and urbanization. In addition to all these, climate change has brought and will bring more impacts, requiring adoption of a climate-smart approach.
In view of the above, irrigation, as the biggest wáter user – accounting for 70 percent of global freshwater withdrawal – cannot repeat old modes of development. Innovations are needed to promote productive, equitable and sustainable water management while improving water services to agriculture and rural development. Numerous approaches and tools have been developed and practiced by various partners in recent years to improve irrigation practices, which could be further disseminated in future irrigation investments. Useful experiences and lessons have also been learned from irrigation investment operations in recent years, especially those of FAO Investment Centre Division (TCI) staff and consultants. These could also be summarized and documented to provide a reference for future irrigation investment operations.
