Title: Women’s vulnerability to climatic and non-climatic change in the Eastern Gangetic Plains. In Nepali
Abstract: Sub-Saharan Africa, in general, and West Africa, in particular, have not reaped the same benefits of irrigation, intensification and improved productivity as the rest of the world in meeting the rising demands for food and fiber of a growing population.Instead, much of its increase in crop production has come from expansion of (mostly rainfed) cropped area rather than from productivity gains.On the other hand, West Africa possesses substantial untapped land and water resources.The area equipped for irrigation in the individual countries rarely exceeds 20% of the potential.Hence, there is, in principle, considerable scope for expansion of irrigation in West Africa.However, irrigation, while being recognized as a valuable agricultural practice, enjoys a mixed record.Its performance has been sub-optimal with generally disappointing returns to investments, particularly in the case of large public irrigation schemes.Decisions about future investment in the irrigation sector should be based on, and informed by, lessons derived from analysis of past experiences.This was one of the main considerations that led to the convening of this workshop in December 2010 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.Its main purpose was to take stock of the state of irrigation in West Africa with a view to charting a course for its future development.The workshop featured contributions from representatives of 14 of the 15 countries that constitute the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).Each of these papers reported on the present state of the irrigated agriculture sector in their respective countries, including aspects such as extent and potential, management and performance, policies and institutions, and opportunities and constraints related to future development.These core contributions were supplemented by examples of broader regional and international experiences presented by representatives from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), the World Bank (WB), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).West Africa is endowed with relatively abundant land and water resources.Per capita water availability is highest in the coastal countries of the Gulf of Guinea (Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone).The level of withdrawal of renewable water resources for human use in West Africa is still relatively modest.The availability of arable land is also generally not a constraint.However, the lack of adequate infrastructure is a major obstacle to harnessing these resources.In recent times, a trend of leasing out substantial tracts of land to foreign investors for development has been observed.The benefits, or otherwise, of this phenomenon (referred to as 'land grabs' in some quarters) is something that merits careful analysis.While the costs of irrigation development depend on the degree of water control, the topography of the site and the type of irrigation system, they are generally higher in this region than in other parts of the world even reaching levels of USD 20,000/hectare (ha).Irrigation investments have hitherto been largely spearheaded by national governments with support from