On World Water Day, FAO calls for irrigation for small farmers Myanmar: worker watering seedlings in a nursery FAO/19782/G. Bizzarri Tunisia: waste water being purified FAO/13998/J. Isaac Brazil: syphon irrigation FAO/15149/A. Conti Irrigated agriculture produces 40 percent of the world's food today, according to FAO estimates, and it will have to produce about 60 percent of the extra food required to feed a world population of around 8 billion by 2025. According to a report published by FAO on the occasion of World Water Day, 22 March, "The bulk of improvements in food supply from irrigation is expected to come from changes in a sector still dominated by small producers...small-scale irrigators are, and will continue to be, a vital part of future world food security." The report "Poverty reduction and irrigated agriculture" is produced by the International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage (IPTRID), which is managed by FAO's Land and Water Development Division. (Click here to download the report in pdf.) The message is that low-cost, locally produced irrigation technology, like pumps, hose and drip systems, have two major benefits for the rural poor and the world as a whole: they help farmers produce more food - or "grow more crop per drop" - and they create jobs and income opportunities. In Bangladesh, for example, since 1985 groundwater irrigation has increased employment in agriculture by around 250 percent. FAO has stressed that irrigation technology for small farmers should be affordable and easy to use and that women and men should have equal access to irrigation. In Gambia, Tanzania and Kenya, women's rights to hold irrigated land and control the distribution of products, have improved family nutrition and the income of female-headed households significantly. Burkina Faso: irrigating a bean field FAO/12709/J. Van Acker Philippines: farmer using a levelling board to distribute water on the fields FAO/18227/J. Villamora Tanzania: clearing weeds from an irrigation canal FAO/17685/A. Conti 22 March 1999   Related News and Highlights New FAO publication aims to bring small-scale irrigation to farmers in sub-Saharan Africa Irrigation schemes to keep young people on the farm Contaminated water devastates health across the Aral Sea region TeleFood projects In Honduras, a diesel pump brings welcome water In Senegal, pedal pumps and reservoirs help a garden grow Other resources Chinese farmers benefit from Special Programme water control and soil improvement work Women and water resources FactFile: Actual and potential irrigation in Africa by region PhotoFile: Small-scale irrigation Archives News & Highlights News in brief Press Releases PhotoFile FactFile

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