Ethiopia

Ethiopia has enormous potential for agricultural development. At present only about 25 per cent of its arable land is cultivated.

IFAD, 2014

AI project hunts Shallow Groundwater for drinking water, and irrigation, to boost food supply

Situation

Ethiopia is experiencing long-term drought and erratic rainfall patterns, with climate change seen by its government, and the United Nations, as the main culprit. Arguably since 2011, this lack of crop water has resulted in several years of crop failures, which represents a state of an ongoing emergency (1).

Goal

The mission of this project is to at least double or triple crop yields and improve drinking water - for small farmers - through better shallow borehole development - that significantly improves both food security and gut health. The focus of this project is to create an artificial intelligence (AI) map system, called WellMapr©, on a mobile app, and personal computer that will drive down the costs and drive out risks for time-poor policymakers, donors, and agricultural aid workers, showing them where to invest time and effort more accurately for irrigation by shallow borehole development.

Introduction

Today 25% of the population of about 115 million are undernourished, according to the World Bank (2) while a fluctuating population of around 7 million are surviving on aid-based feeding schemes.

Double or triple crop yields

Ethiopian agriculture offers some important solutions for food supply. It employs 80% of the workforce, and 75% of this group are small farmers living off farms of 0.7 hectares or less. These farmers, both male, and female are reliant mostly on rainfall, which as noted is increasingly abnormal. However, one tried-and-tested solution to replace rainwater is irrigation from shallow groundwater using boreholes. Such irrigation doubles or even triples their crop yields, Zeweld, W (3), but the groundwater has to be carefully or sustainably managed so that underground reserves are conserved and not overused.

Of course, a doubling of yields also opens up exciting possibilities for other small businesses to start up and employ people, in light technologies. These employers can preserve, add value, and send food to markets in different ways. All this is in addition to moving farmers out of subsistence and into the cash economy, whereupon they may be able to pay for their children's education and other family welfare, including early years nutrition for small children, which is so important for long-term cognitive development.

Water carrying time is eliminated and available for child care & education

There is also another vital contribution that shallow boreholes make. In Ethiopia small farmers, and in particular women and children spend over 30 minutes per day (6), and often an hour or two, collecting water from a river, well, or spring. This time is saved by putting a shallow well on a farm, time that can be used for education and enhanced child care.

Cleaner water from sealed wells, versus open water sources

In Ethiopia, 60% to 80% of the population suffer from water borne diseases Tassew et al (7), but wells that are properly built, with a sealed source and proper soak away, largely eliminate water contamination by diarrhoeal and mosquito borne diseases.

Shallow wells

Shallow wells go down about 30 meters, and usually have a simple hand pump. They are relatively easy to dig, or drill, and then the reliable operation and ongoing maintenance of the hand pump, by the small farmers, is both cheap and relatively straightforward.

In Ethiopia, the total area suitable for shallow irrigation is 60,000 (nice and flat) to 120,000 square kilometres (if we consider slightly steeper slopes), according to Worqlul et al, (4). Therefore this is probably 15% to 30% of the total farmland in Ethiopia, as the country has 385,000 square kilometres of farmland or 34% of the total land area, Statista (8).

Yet, possibly only 5.2% of the farmland which is also suitable for irrigation potential was irrigated during the 2015/16 crop year, CSA (5). So there is a big potential to grow a lot more food on the 94.7%, but only if more shallow wells could be both drilled at sustainable locations and then managed sustainably. And as part of sustainability, it will also be important for well diggers and drillers to test the water whenever it is found, to be sure it is suitable for human consumption and not contaminated by fluoride salts, pathogens, or agrochemicals.

MapAid obtained some data from the United Nations and one of our volunteers mapped the locations of many wells across Ethiopia. However, nobody yet seems to know if these are shallow, or deep wells, and other useful information like the depth of water, all of which helps hydrologists to dig or drill more shallow wells, with less wasted efforts. We are working on this!

However, here is the question:

Where exactly do you drill?

Groundwater is tricky. Obviously, it’s out of sight, so detecting its depth and mapping it at scale, calls for innovative hydrological studies that lead to actionable solutions (like shallow boreholes) that are easy to use. The key is to find hydrological methods that are low-cost enough for big areas, and yet sufficiently accurate, so that policymakers, donors, and agricultural development workers can use our maps for better collaboration, and more accurately drill for sustainable water, at lower costs, and avoid the risks of aquifer depletion.

MapAid has been working in Ethiopia since 2012, and closely with the University of Arba Minch since 2016. In 2019 we teamed up with George Mason University and began work on WellMapr©. Next in 2022, we began excellent discussions with the Czech Academy of Sciences which culminated in signing an agreement for collaboration and funding in 2023, and some years into the future !

In all our relations with our valued partners, we have one simple outcome or goal in mind for small farmers -

“Drinking water, irrigation and food supply… at lower cost!”

Citations:
  1. Crisis in Ethiopia: Climate change meets conflict. (2022) International Rescue Committee 
  2. Prevalence of undernourishment (% population) – Ethiopia, (2022). Word Bank
  3. Food Security through Small Scale Irrigation: Case Study from Northern Ethiopia. (2013) Author: Zeweld, W
  4. Assessing potential land suitable for surface irrigation using groundwater in Ethiopia. (2017) Authors: Abeyou W.Worqlul, Jaehak Jeonga Yihun T.Dile, Javier Osorioa, Petra Schmitter, Thomas Gerik, R.Srinivasan, Neville Clark, Elesvier, Applied Geography Volume 85
  5. Agricultural sample survey 2015/16 (2008 E.C.) report on- farm management practices (private peasant holdings, Meher season) (September – December 2015) Addis Abeba. (2016) CSA (Central Statistical Agency).
  6. Collection time inequalities: fetching water in Ethiopia. (2018) Authors: Cassivi et al. 41st WEDC International Conference, Egerton University, Nakuru, Kenya
  7. Bacteriological Quality of Drinking Water and Associated Factors at the Internally Displaced People Sites, Gedeo Zone, Southern Ethiopia: A Cross-sectional Study (2021) Authors: Zemachu Ashuro, Mekonnen Birhanie Aregu, Girum Gebremeskel Kanno, Belay Negassa, Negasa Eshete Soboksa, Awash Alembo, Eshetu Ararsa, Fikru Badecha, and Solomon Tassew, Environmental Health Insights, 2021, 15.
  8. Agricultural land in Ethiopia from 2000 to 2020. (2023). Statista

In Memoriam

MapAid’s maps in Ethiopia are dedicated to Fabio Facoetti, one of our amazing mappers, from Italy, who passed away out of our sight, on Thursday 25th April 2013, aged 28, in Addis Ababa.

Fabio worked on data collection and maps, to support Ethiopia’s development, a country he adored.

What will your donation do?

Your donation helps us build maps (and occasionally visuals) to help other charities, the public sector, foundations, and corporate sponsors know where and why to focus their efforts. Our maps, therefore, help ensure that other aid money goes further.

When you donate to MapAid, your money will be spent on whatever is carefully considered, as needed to make these maps, that help get bread onto the farmer's table.