Agricultural groundwater use and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: A first-cut assessment
Agricultural groundwater use and rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: A first-cut assessment
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DOI：
10.1007/s10040-005-0479-9
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发表时间：
2006-03-01
影响因子：
2.8
通讯作者：
Giordano, M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Giordano, M
过去几十年来，农业地下水使用的迅速扩大，改变了大部分发展中国家的农村经济，特别是南亚和华北地区。在撒哈拉以南非洲的大部分地区，还没有这样的“地下水革命”，人们对地下水利用在支持该地区农业生计方面的实际作用知之甚少，也不知道未来是否有机会扩大这一作用。对已发表的文献进行了审查，初步描绘了地下水对撒哈拉以南非洲地区农业以及农村生计的贡献。研究结果表明，地下水仅用于100万至200万公顷的耕地，直接影响了1.5-3%的农村人口的生计。地下水在至关重要的畜牧业中也发挥着关键作用，在向农户供应生活用水方面也发挥着重要的间接作用。虽然缺乏数据，但后两种作用可能超过地下水对作物生产的直接重要性。这表明，对撒哈拉以南非洲农业地下水利用在支持农村生计方面的价值的理解，应该基于不同于亚洲通常应用的模型。
The rapid expansion in agricultural groundwater use in the last few decades has transformed rural economies in large parts of the developing world, in particular South Asia and North China. There has been no such "Groundwater Revolution" in most of sub-Saharan Africa and little is known about the actual role of groundwater use in supporting agricultural livelihoods in the region or opportunities to expand this role in the future. Published literature has been reviewed to paint a preliminary, region-wide picture of the contribution groundwater makes to agriculture, and in turn to rural livelihoods, within sub-Saharan Africa. The findings indicate that groundwater is used on only 1-2 million hectares of cropped area, directly contributing to the livelihoods of 1.5-3% of the rural population. Groundwater also plays a critical role in the vital livestock sector as well as an important indirect role in the supply of domestic water to agricultural households. While data are lacking, these latter two roles likely surpass the direct importance of groundwater to crop production. This suggests that an understanding of the value of agricultural groundwater use in support of rural livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa should be based on different models than have typically been applied in Asia.