Water and the rural poor : interventions for improving livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa

This report argues that the potential exists for well-targeted, local interventions in water that contribute to rapid improvement in the livelihoods of the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and help attain the Millennium Development Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. It discusses conditions for success and proposes water-based, context-specific, and livelihood-centred approaches to poverty reduction in rural areas. The report identifies and maps 13 major “livelihood zones” in SSA. Each zone offers distinct opportunities for livelihood sustenance and development, has different agro-ecological conditions, and shows different angles for water-related investments for poverty reduction. The predominant scales emerging from this analysis correspond to the household, farm and community watershed levels. Six categories of possible interventions have been identified in view of their poverty-reduction potential: better management of soil moisture in rainfed areas; investment in water harvesting and small storage; small-scale community-based irrigation schemes; improved water access and control for peri-urban agriculture; development of water supply to meet multiple water uses; an environmentally-aware system of improved water access for livestock in arid and semi-arid areas.