Efficient agricultural water use and management in paddy fields in Zambia

Book excerpt: An increasing number of regions in the world are frequently facing water shortage, and water demand is likely to grow in the next 20-30 years due to intensified agriculture, population growth, urbanization and climate change. Future demand of water by all sectors will, thus, require as much as 25 to 40 percent of water to be re-allocated from lower to higher productivity and employment-oriented activities, particularly in water stressed regions. As such, these reallocations are likely to come from agriculture due to its high share of water use. In view of the projected rise in water demand in both agriculture and non-agricultural sectors, appropriate actions that increase water use efficiency especially in irrigation are crucial to sustainably enhance agricultural production and productivity. In Zambia, rice is one of the most important cereal food and is at the centre of major socioeconomic activity for a large share of rural population. Paddy field system are especially water demanding as it needs continues inundation of the field during most of the growing season. In Zambia, there is no controlled infrastructure for paddy irrigation and nearly all of the rice is grown under paddy field system in the country rainfed lowlands. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has been active to increase the understanding of the status of water use efficiency and water productivity in Zambia through the project “Efficient Agricultural Water Use and Management Enhancement in Paddy Fields”, funded by the Japan Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).