Africa with 15 percent of the global population has only 9 percent of the world’s renewable water resources and that too are unevenly distributed. Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change and its variability. The region encompasses 53 countries, of which 34 are categorized as Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The region often faces contradictory challenges of surplus and scarcity of land and water resources. There are also vast differences as regards socio-economic developments among sub-regions -under-development and over-exploitation. ICID believes that agricultural growth offers a potentially powerful tool for ensuring food security and spearhead poverty reduction in Africa. Presently, only 4.6 percent of its total arable and permanent crop land is equipped for irrigation while the potential is 6 percent. There is also a need to enhance capacity to address challenges for meeting growing water demand for agriculture, and managing water under global climate change.

To address the various issue related to agricultural water management, ICID established the African Regional Working Group (AFRWG) in 2000 with an objective of promoting strong communications and networking among the African countries as well as regional and international institutions for enhancing cooperation and coordination. ICID has developed a special Africa Focus Program and the AFRWG works closely with regional association like SARIA and ARID.

The 4th African Regional Conference on Irrigation and Drainage (ARCID) was organized from 26-28 April 2016 at historical city of Aswan, Egypt on the main theme ‘Agricultural Land and Water Management for Sustainability under Climate Variability’ by the host Egyptian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (ENCID). Three sub-topics covered were (i) Water Use Management; (ii) Food Security; and (iii) Research, Extension Services and Capacity Development. More...