Solar powered irrigation: climate-friendly, reliable and affordable

16 October 2018, Cairo, Egypt – Solar powered irrigation systems are climate-friendly, reliable and affordable but they need to be adequately managed and regulated to avoid the risk of unsustainable water use, said the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations during Cairo Water Week 2018.

In a session on the opportunities and challenges of solar technologies in agriculture, FAO highlighted the water-energy-food nexus and available tools to support climate-smart development.

“Solar powered irrigation can be a very resourceful tool for small-scale family farmers to increase their income and therefore improve their livelihoods and food security,” said Pasquale Steduto, FAO Regional Programme Coordinator for Near East and North Africa (NENA).

FAO’s Water Scarcity Initiative in the Near East and North Africa Region has been giving special focus to the use of solar energy for agricultural irrigation and sustainable development. 

In Egypt’s Nile Delta, the agricultural sector is facing an energy crisis, as increasing electricity demand from urban areas results in frequent shortages and blackouts. As most irrigation canals are below ground level, requiring the use of pumps to lift water to the fields, the energy crisis in turn lead to disruptions in the regular irrigation scheduling of crops, which consequently decreased crop yields.