Opportunities for the Scale-Up of Irrigation Systems in Ghana, West Africa

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reports approximately 1.9 million hectares (Mha) total of potential irrigatable lands in Ghana. However, the total water-managed area in the country was estimated to be only approximately 30,900 hectares (ha) in 2000 or 1.7% of the possible area. The government ultimately intends to add a total irrigatable area of 500,000 ha or more, thereby increasing the total coverage to 28% of the country’s potential. This would be beneficial because Ghana is not currently agriculturally independent and seeks to make substantial efforts in the scale-up of irrigation technologies to decrease the country’s reliance on the importation of agricultural goods. Unfortunately, the state of available technical literature for the very specific subject of agricultural water resources in a small African country is limited and generally only thinly published. A successful review of the published literature was conducted by expanding the search parameters until an adequate level of material became available to accurately describe the situation. The adaptive review process to access progressively more relevant information is presented in the methodology. The country’s total water withdrawal was quantified. The constraints on water resource development within Ghana’s socio-political environment were examined, and opportunities for technical improvement were identified. If well-managed, the country’s surface water and largely untapped groundwater systems are sufficient to meet most domestic and irrigation purposes. This analysis should provide significant aid to the government, non-governmental organizations, and aid agencies working to improve agricultural productivity via the scale-up of irrigation systems in Ghana and other similar countries.