Why Africa needs AgWA?
In Africa, only 7 percent of arable land is irrigated, with an even lower 4 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, compared to 38 percent in Asia. Moreover, 93 percent of the African population rely on rainfall to live or even survive. Additional investment in agricultural water management would pay dividends. Agricultural growth is the key to reducing poverty in Africa and driving economic development. But agriculture needs water and lots of it. Africa is well endowed with water resources, yet water withdrawals are less than 3 percent of total renewable resources. As a response to those challenges, AgWA aims to promote investment in developing the water and agriculture potential of the continent.
In addition to this, a recent study about the “institutional architecture” for Agricultural Water Management (AWM) in Africa found that there are numerous African institutions with AWM capacities and expertise, but none, nor any existing coalition of institutions, can offer the full range of specialties and degree of coordination needed to meet the challenges faced by African stakeholders. AgWA fills that gap by pooling partners’ knowledge and coordinating their efforts.
What is AgWA?
AgWA is an autonomous voluntary partnership that includes a large set of networks and institutions from Africa and elsewhere, all of which bring specific Agricultural Water Management (AWM) capacities to the Partnership. The members include government and inter-government organizations, United Nations agencies, civil society and other non-governmental organizations and networks, research, educational and training institutions, financing institutions, and international water management networks.