Agricultural Water Management in Africa
Lessons Learned and Future Directions
- 1st Edition - January 15, 2026
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Editors: Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, Aidan Senzanje, Olufunke Cofie
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 1 5 8 4 - 1
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 2 1 5 8 5 - 8
Agricultural Water Management in Africa: Lessons Learned and Future Directions provides an overview of the status of irrigation development and AWM practices and techno… Read more
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Agricultural Water Management in Africa: Lessons Learned and Future Directions provides an overview of the status of irrigation development and AWM practices and technologies in Africa and the global south, and provides guidelines, scenarios, and investment plans to guide the prioritization and operationalization of irrigation development and AWM under climate change. The African Union (AU) is driving investment and improvement in agricultural water management and transformation in Africa through the operationalization of the AU Irrigation Development and Agricultural Water Management in Africa (AU-IDAWM). The AU-IDAWM provides a framework that identifies four development pathways for enhanced agricultural water management practices across Africa. The pathways are as follows: (1) Improved water control and watershed management in rain-fed farming, (2) Farmer-led Irrigation Development (FLID), (3) Irrigation scheme development and modernisation, and (4) Unconventional water use for irrigation.
This book explores the status of AWM at a continental scale as guided by the AU-IDAWM pathways. It also incorporates case studies from the global South (Asia and Latin America) to foster south-south knowledge sharing. The book considers cross-cutting issues such as the water-energy-food nexus and circular economy within the context of sustainable AWM development.
This book explores the status of AWM at a continental scale as guided by the AU-IDAWM pathways. It also incorporates case studies from the global South (Asia and Latin America) to foster south-south knowledge sharing. The book considers cross-cutting issues such as the water-energy-food nexus and circular economy within the context of sustainable AWM development.
- Highlights fit-for-purpose irrigation strategies at scale and identifies opportunities and challenges of irrigation practices
- Expands understanding of the pathways for agricultural water management (AWM), presenting operation and maintenance procedures
- Includes bespoke designs guided by the AWM pathway approach
Agricultural producers, resource managers, irrigation developers, researchers, planners and policy makers, environmental protection services Students, academics
- Agricultural Water Management: An Overview of Concepts
- The transformative role of treated wastewater in North Africa: Lessons learned and future directions
- Effects of forage plantation on soil quality in the sub-humid Ethiopian Highlands: Implications for sustainable agriculture
- The Status of Agricultural Water Management in Africa: Progress, challenges, and opportunities
- Agricultural Water Management (AWM) in Maize-Based Systems: Challenges, Opportunities, and Sustainable Solutions in Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe
- The Importance of Water for Agroecology Transitions in Semi-arid Regions of Sub-Saharan Africa
- Optimising water productivity: Challenges and opportunities in smallholder irrigation schemes, a case of South Africa
- AquaCrop model as a tool to forecast crop yield during the season: Lessons from Nepal, South Asia
- Evaluation of drip and conventional surface irrigation in poorly drained naturally-irrigated lands of the Khorezm region: Lessons from Central Asia
- Impacts and interventions to extreme weather events in southern Africa
- Integrated water and land management practices: Demand-driven participatory research in the semi-arid region of central Tanzania
- Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Agricultural Water Management
- Gender Dynamics and Power Relations in Water Management and Agricultural Innovations: A Case of Mpegnesso's Lowlands in Mali
- Institutions and Governance for Agricultural Water Management for Resilient Food Systems
- Summary: Crop-water productivity, the basis of agricultural water management
- Edition: 1
- Published: January 15, 2026
- Imprint: Academic Press
- Language: English
TM
Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi
Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi is a Professor of Climate Change, Food Systems & Health at LSHTM, and Director of the Lancet Countdown Africa Centre. He applies a systems‑approach at the intersection of water, energy, food, environmental and health systems, also known as the WEF+ nexus, leading research, teaching and policy-relevant work to strengthen sustainable, climate-resilient food systems. In addition to his role at LSHTM, Tafadzwa is the Lead for the Water-Energy-Food-Environment Nexus for the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) and Director of the Institute of Natural Resources. He is an Extraordinary Professor at the University of Pretoria and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Affiliations and expertise
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Pretoria, South Africa; Centre for Transformative Agricultural and Food Systems, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaAS
Aidan Senzanje
Aidan Senzanje is a senior research fellow in the School of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. His research interests are in irrigation technology, irrigation and agricultural water management and the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. He has published over 60 journal articles, authored/co-authored 23 book chapters and co-edited 4 books. He was previously a visiting scientist at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Pretoria, South Africa. He has practical experience in undertaking technical consultancies in irrigation engineering, agricultural water management, project evaluation and environmental management systems. He was involved in the planning, development and launching of new academic programmes in Land and Water Management for the SADC region and the BSc Agricultural Engineering degree at the University of Zimbabwe.
Affiliations and expertise
Senior Lecturer, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South AfricaOC
Olufunke Cofie
Olufunke Cofie is the Africa Director for Research Impact at the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), where she provides strategic direction to enhance IWMI’s development impact through effective research delivery and engagement with partners across Africa and the Middle East. Her role focuses on improving the responsiveness and effectiveness of IWMI’s research capabilities and creating sustainable water management solutions tailored to the needs of the countries. She has led the design and execution of projects aimed at generating water and agricultural solutions for sustainable development across Africa and the Middle East.
Affiliations and expertise
International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Accra, Ghana