Water Use, Productivity and Socioeconomics of Farmer-managed Small Dam Irrigation Schemes in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Food availability gaps caused by short-duration wet season and long dry spells marking semiarid regions of the world and the pivotal role irrigated agriculture plays in the economic sustenance of agrarian regions of developing countries, have informed the need to constantly monitor the performance of irrigation systems. The use of small reservoirs for dry season farming presents a viable alternative to medium and large-scale state agency-managed irrigation projects. This present study therefore evaluated the performance of two (2) small dam-based farmer-led irrigation schemes, at Baare and Winkongo, in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Performance indicators related to water availability and agricultural production, developed by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) were used. Data were gathered through field surveys, laboratory analysis, and literature. The relative water supply (RWS) and relative irrigation supply (RIS) for Baare were 1.11 and 1.12, respectively, indicating crop water demand was marginally matched by water supply. The abundant water available to Winkongo crops, indicated by RWS and RIS values of 2.56 and 3.17, respectively, showed opportunity for water saving and/or bringing more land under cultivation. Doing this would cause better land productivity, which the output per cropped area (OPCA) indicator revealed was unexpectedly lower than Baare. The study concluded that demographic distribution, including age and gender of the irrigation farmers, plays a limited role in the efficient use of small reservoirs for dry season irrigation farming, compared to ready availability of farmland to willing irrigators and season-round water availability. If the significant youth populations involved in dry season farming at the studied schemes are maintained for farmer-led irrigation in other parts of northern Ghana, the crisis of labour shortage is not likely to occur. This is a positive sign in the drive to reaching food self-sufficiency level (SSL) and keeping afloat the agriculture-based rural economy.