Annex I

Supporting market-led importation of small-scale irrigation

equipment in West and Central Africa

Sjon van’t Hof1, Netherlands

Contents

Introduction 2
Small-scale irrigation: definition and statistics 3
The import service market for small-scale irrigation equipment in West Africa 4
Supporting market-led importation of small-scale irrigation equipment 6
Ten guiding principles for the marketing of affordable irrigation devices 7
Conclusion and recommendations 10
References 12
Internet resources 14

List of Tables and Boxes

Table I–1 Area under small-scale and traditional irrigation in 3
West and Central Africa (ARID mandate area) in 1985

Box I–1 A simple decision tree for supporting equipment\import 7

service projects (after Drew, 2000)
Box I–2 Framework for import promotion 9

1
Secretary of the HIPPO Foundation, De Verwondering 27, 3823HA Amersfoort, The Netherlands, Tel./Fax. +31.33.4553623,
e-mail HIPPOMP@net.hcc.nl, www.hipponet.nl
Appropriate water-lifting technologies in West Africa – Annex I

Abstract: The scope and methods used to promote the importation of irrigation equipment
from India and China to West and Central Africa are discussed. The emphasis is on diesel-
powered pumpsets for low-lift irrigation of the type practiced along Sahelian rivers or certain
artificial lakes. Subjects include: (1) the import service market for irrigation pumps in West
Africa; (2) characteristics of Asian equipment; (3) export prices, cost prices and selling prices;
(4) supporting market-led importation initiatives; and (5) marketing principles. A framework
for promoting the importation of irrigation equipment is outlined.

Résumé: Les perspectives et les méthodes pour promouvoir l’importation de matériel

d’irrigation de l’Inde et de la Chine en Afrique Centrale et Occidentale sont examinées.
L’accent est mis sur les motopompes à gas-oil pour le pompage à faible pression du type
pratiqué le long des fleuves Sahéliens ou certains lacs artificiels. Les sujets incluent: (1) le
marché des services d’importation pour les pompes d’irrigation; (2) les caractéristiques de
matériel asiatique; (3) les prix à l’exportation, prix d’achat et prix de vente; (4) le soutien
des initiatives d’importation commerciales; et (5) les principes de commercialisation. Des
recommandations pour favoriser l’importation de matériel d’irrigation sont fournies.

INTRODUCTION

Small-scale irrigation development in West Africa is partly the result of a spontaneous

process and partly the result of development efforts by governments, NGOs and international
organizations. The most successful small-scale irrigation farms are those that developed from
farmers’ initiatives (De Lange, 1997). The rate of small-scale irrigation expansion is slow and
irregular, considering the need, potential and effort. Much that had been developed was not
sustainable, socially or economically. This represents a tremendous waste of personal effort
and financial resources. The reasons for non-sustainability are many, varied and complex. Any
West-African irrigation farmer will confirm that one reason is the high investment and running
cost of irrigation equipment, especially pumpsets.
Considering that the cost of irrigation equipment is lower in Asia than anywhere else, there
is scope for stimulating the importation of this equipment to countries, where it is unavailable
or if available the cost of its use is higher than necessary. There are two Asian countries with
extremely large numbers of small-scale, locally managed irrigation systems: China with
over six million systems and India with an estimated 400 000 systems (Mabry, 1993). Bom
and Van Steenbergen (1997) estimate the number of diesel pumpsets in India at 6.5 million.
Both countries have a buoyant domestic industry producing irrigation equipment at highly
competitive prices. Other countries with competitive domestic industries are Brazil, Indonesia,
Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey. However, a technology that has been proven in one
country may still be viewed as ‘too risky’ in another. Thus, the technology transfer process
may require additional resources for management.
In this presentation, the aim is to discuss the scope and methods of promoting the importation
of irrigation equipment from India and China. The emphasis is on diesel-powered pumpsets for
low-lift irrigation (FAO, 1996) of the type practiced along Sahelian rivers, such as the rivers
Senegal, Niger, Logone and Chari in Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and
Chad or along the shores of artificial lakes, such as the Sourou Valley project in Burkina Faso
(Jeune Afrique, 1998).

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SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION: DEFINITION AND STATISTICS

There is no widely accepted definition of small-scale irrigation in terms of area irrigated or

otherwise. Uphoff (1986, in Mabry, 1993) found that irrigation systems with command areas
of 40 ha or less tend to be managed by the entire group of irrigators, while systems between
40 and 400 ha are usually administered by a central official, either elected by the irrigators or
appointed by the state. In exceptional cases, the number of people that can be supported by
systems managed by local assemblies or councils can be as high as 5 000. Provisionally, a
multi-criteria definition of small-scale lift irrigation will be used: (1) the command area must
be less than 40 ha; (2) the average area per irrigator is less than 10 ha; and (3) management is
by the entire group of irrigators.
The term micro-irrigation has been used by some (Norman, 1993) for individuals or small
groups using 3–5 hp gasoline pumps to irrigate less than 1 ha of vegetables. Other terms
include: traditional irrigation, village irrigation, community-based irrigation, local irrigation,
smallholder irrigation and indigenous irrigation. In many cases, traditional irrigation includes
flood irrigation, recession agriculture and a variety of mixed or partial control systems, such
as spate irrigation.
Without an accepted definition of small-scale irrigation, there can be no reliable statistics
on small-scale irrigation. Estimates of irrigated areas under small-scale or traditional irrigation
in the mandate area of the Regional Association on Irrigation and Drainage in West and Central
Africa (French acronym: ARID) are presented In Table I–1 (Rukuni 1997). The total area
under small-scale or traditional irrigation in the ARID mandate area is 1.2 million ha, of which
two-thirds are in Nigeria.

Table I–1 Area under small-scale and traditional irrigation in West and Central Africa
(ARID mandate area) in 1985
Country Small-scale or traditional
irrigation in hectares
Benin 10 000
Burkina Faso 20 000
Cameroon 9 000
Cape Verde NA
Central African Republic 4 000
Chad 40 000
Congo 5 000
Equatorial Guinea NA
Gabon 1 000
Gambia 20 000
Ghana 5 000
Guinea 30 000
Guinea Bissau NA
Cote d’Ivoire 10 000
Liberia 16 000
Mali 60 000
Mauritania 20 000
Niger 20 000
Nigeria 800 000
Sao Tome NA
Senegal 70 000
Sierra Leone 50 000
Togo 10 000
NA Not applicable

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THE IMPORT SERVICE MARKET FOR SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION

EQUIPMENT IN WEST AFRICA

If the average area under lift irrigation in West and Central Africa is cautiously estimated at
25 percent of the total area under small-scale and traditional irrigation, i.e. 300 000 ha, and
if the average area per unit is 5 ha, the total number of units is around 60 000. Assuming an
average life span of six years, it can be estimated that about 10 000 units must be imported
per year, representing an annual turnover in the order of US$25 million. This corresponds to
an equipment cost of roughly US$500/ha, which seems to be about right as an average value
between European imports of makes, such as Hatz and Lister-Petter, and Asian imports from
India and China. For low-lift irrigation, the challenge is to shift this value towards US$100/ha,
while maintaining ordinary equipment life.
Whether or not this aggregate sales volume is sufficient for the development of a dynamic
import service market will depend on a number of factors: (1) size of the country; (2) number of
different types and sizes of pumps; (3) number of importers and their dynamism; (4) access to
information; (5) geographic location (landlocked or not) and infrastructure; (6) overt or hidden
government policies to limit competition from abroad; (7) overt or hidden strategies of major
development agencies involved in small-scale irrigation development. There are indications
that the import service market for small pumpsets is competitive in some countries. In Niger,
prices of 3–5 hp 4-stroke Honda, Yamaha and Robin are no higher than in Europe. However,
demand is not limited to these small units and margins can be quite high in Europe. From 5 hp
upward, diesel becomes an interesting proposition and national markets seem to differ in their
response to this demand.
Generally, French-speaking Africa is strongly oriented to metropolitan France, where
many businesses serve the West African market, using existing trade networks. For many
internationally operating, non-French companies, the representation for West Africa is in
Paris, an indication of weak and fragmented African markets. The factor-ten price difference
between European and Asian equipment is reason enough to put the efficiency of existing
marketing arrangements to the test.
The introduction of diesel-powered equipment of Asian origin in West Africa would be
much easier, if it were better represented in Europe and in France in particular. Why this is not
the case is hard to say. Maybe it is hard to sell, because it is too heavy or too noisy. Another
problem is that the system of sole representation is meaningless, because many factories
produce the same equipment. Meanwhile European manufacturers produce equipment in
Asia under their own name and sell it at normal prices in Europe. Nevertheless, some Asian
equipment is sold in the USA, Canada and Australia, and in eastern and southern Africa,
because of historical connections with India.
Over the past few years, the author made a number of short visits to Burkina Faso, Ghana,
Mali, Mauritania and Niger. There was Chinese or Indian equipment in all these countries.
Therefore, the importation of Asian equipment to West Africa is no longer hypothetical, but
is still in its infancy. After-sales service for spare part availability and repair or maintenance
capacity is poor. One example is the main distributor of spare parts in a country where there
were 500 units of one type of engine. The distributor: (1) could not show a single spare
part (but he knew where to get them); (2) was not aware of a major regional distributor in a
neighbouring country; (3) did not have a spare part catalogue; and (4) the prices quoted for
spare parts were ten times higher than in the country of origin, making it almost cheaper to
import a new engine than to repair it. Furthermore, there did not seem to be any knowledge

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of the different pumps that could be fitted with this particular type of engine to suit different
pumping conditions. Another example is of somebody who had imported a container of engines
with hopper cooling. He liked the engine very much, because it was easy to repair, but he did
not understand why he had to top up water every 10 to 20 minutes. Apparently, he was not
aware of the five different cooling options available for this type of engine.

Particularities of Asian equipment

Chinese and Indian equipment differs in a number of respects from present-day Western
equipment: it is old fashioned, heavy, made of cast iron, relatively low speed and repair is
simple and cheap. There are dozens or hundreds of companies churning out vast numbers
of the same limited range of models, so competition is ensured. Although old fashioned, the
equipment is not necessarily less energy efficient. In most cases, no licenses are required
for its production. None, or few, changes are made to the original design, so there are no
development costs. The costs of raw material and labour in China and India are very low.
Irrigation development is extremely important in both countries. Large numbers of equipment
are made for the largest homogeneous home markets in the world and little or no marketing
effort is made. Hence, the cost of the equipment is very low.
Profit margins on Indian and Chinese equipment are very low. As the incentive is for
foreign exchange rather than profit and considering that the equipment is not unique, it cannot
be expected that manufacturers will invest much in overseas sales or after-sales service. This
disadvantage is not unqualified: it means that competition is ensured at cutthroat prices. It
also means that after-sales service will have to be ensured by the importer or by the end-user.
This is not necessarily very difficult or expensive, provided there is a contact in the country of
origin to provide an airfreight spare-parts supply service. Besides, several years of spare-part
requirements can be supplied with the original equipment at low cost.
Millions of units of some models have been sold in the home countries. Probably, sales of
these models will continue for decades to come. This means that the main models, and with
them the investments in training to maintain them, will not become obsolete before 2025.
Because they often have prechamber ignition, they are more likely to be able to run on bio-
diesel than their modern European counterparts are.

Export prices of Asian equipment

Sundaram (1997) quotes prices for Indian, single and double cylinder, water and air-cooled
diesel engines of 5 to 15 hp. The average price for a water-cooled 7.5 hp 1 500 rpm engine
works out at US$480 in Durban (South Africa). The models mentioned by Sundaram can be
seen on various web sites (see the section Internet resources at the end).
Arby and Van’t Hof (2000) mention an 8 hp 1 800 rpm engine with a 60 l/s low-pressure
pump for the price of US$750 FOB Bombay. The complete pumpset, including discharge hoses
and suction-side accessories, cost about US$4 000 by the time it reached Timbuktu, Mali,
including custom duties and inland transport from Dakar via Bamako to Timbuktu. After having
used the pumpset for two seasons (2 000 hours) to irrigate 14 ha of wet rice along the river
Niger, it was decided to purchase all the spare parts necessary for a complete engine overhaul,
including cylinder lining and piston. They cost US$125 + US$175 for airfreight to Bamako.
This is 30 percent of the price mentioned in Burkina Faso (personal observation, 2001).

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The prices of Chinese equipment are roughly similar. Up to about 15 hp, there are three
main series of diesel engines: F, R and S. The smallest is the air-cooled F-series. A typical
representative is the 170F of 4 hp. It costs US$120 FOB Chinese port. The water-cooled R
series is next in line and is represented by the R180 of 8 hp maximum. Next is the water-cooled
S series. The original model, which continues to be in high demand, is the S195 of about 12 hp
at 2 000 rpm. It costs about US$205 FOB Chinese port. Popular, more powerful versions are
the S1100 and S1110. The standard versions of the water-cooled engines have hopper cooling.
Other cooling systems are thermosyphon, through-flow, radiator and condensation cooling.
Increasingly, Western engine manufacturers are establishing alliances in Asia: Lombardini
is produced in India by Greaves, Hatz in Turkey by Pancar and Yanmar in China by Kama,
Changfa and Swan. As a result, cheap modern engines become available for affordable
pumpsets, using local pumps. For example, in September 2000, a 25 l/s, 8 HMT Wuxi pump
of 4-inch (4HBC-35) and powered by a modern 4 hp air-cooled Changfa engine (identical to
the L48AE of Yanmar) was offered for US$363 FOB Shanghai, including some spare parts
and suction and discharge-side accessories, such as an efficient 5-inch foot valve. This is
one example to show that there is no lack of affordable, low-lift and very low-lift pumping
equipment in India and China (for other examples, see Van’t Hof, 2000).

The price of Asian equipment in West Africa

Marketing efficiency in Africa is low. Prices of equipment are higher there than anywhere else
in the world. This does not bother the urban elite (Rukuni, 1997). The high prices are normally
explained by high transport and high transaction costs, corruption of customs officials, and
the get-rich-quick attitude of importers. None of these reasons is beyond human influence.
Customs officials can be controlled by good government, the importers can be controlled by
empowering the end-users, transaction costs can be controlled by organizing the marketing
chain, and transport costs can be minimized by larger orders. For a full container load, each
10 hp Indian pumpset costs US$440 (C&F Bamako), but the importation of a single unit will
cost US$800.
A pumpset is more than an engine and a pump mounted on a chassis. Attention should be
paid to the cost of completing pumpsets with discharge hoses, suction pipes and foot-valves.
An efficient 200 mm foot valve can cost US$500 and 50 m of lay flat pipe may cost more
than US$1 000. This is without profit margin, transport and so on. Clearly, the additional costs
of auxiliary equipment can easily render seemingly affordable equipment too expensive for
small-scale irrigation farmers. On the other hand, there is tremendous scope for controlling
costs: the highly efficient US$500 cast-iron foot valve is produced for US$25 in Taiwan, and
high-quality lay flat pipe is available at a fraction of the normal price in Australia.

SUPPORTING MARKET-LED IMPORTATION OF SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION

EQUIPMENT

If the equipment import service market is weak, and provided the political and economic
preconditions for small-scale irrigation development in a country are met, it makes sense to
stimulate the links between domestic importers and foreign producers.

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Appropriate water-lifting technologies in West Africa – Annex I

Box I–1 A simple decision tree for supporting equipment import service projects
(after Drew, 2000)
1. How are the economic policies?
1.1. Bad: carry out policy reform
1.2. Good: go to 2
2. How developed is the equipment import service market?
2.1. Dynamic? Do nothing.
2.2. Weak? Go to 3
3. Stimulate links between domestic importers and foreign producers.

For a variety of reasons, the importation of Asian irrigation equipment is still in its infancy.
Since the late 1980s, there has been increasing interest in the development of the private sector,
because it was realized that support given to this area provides long-term, sustainable benefits.
Contrary to the equipment import sector, there has been some experience in the market-led
promotion of post-harvest enterprises (Cutler, 1993, and Drew, 2000). Organizations, such as
the Agribusiness Development Centre in Uganda or Rural Investment Overseas Limited in the
United Kingdom were set up to undertake feasibility studies at the request of a promoter or
international development institutions, to assist in the raising of the necessary finance, and, if
appropriate, to be involved in the management of the enterprise.
Establishing any new enterprise is difficult, particularly in developing countries. Cutler
emphasizes that the promoter is the most important factor in the long-term success of the
project. Clients need to be selected carefully. Drew insists on the need for an objective screening
mechanism, monitoring performance closely, and the readiness to terminate any operation.
Other factors that need to be considered when looking at a new or expanding business include:
(1) project planning and investment; (2) product; (3) market and competition; (4) freight and
documentation; (5) technology; and (6) management and training.
Importing equipment is not very difficult, so promoters or clients should not be limited
to conventional importers, but could well include other actors in small-scale irrigation
development, such as a director of a cooperative farmers’ association, or organizations with
a long-term interest in the importation or maintenance of affordable small-scale irrigation
equipment. Cutler (1993) says that the ideal promoter must meet the following requirements:
(1) strong and dedicated; (2) honest and realistic; (3) adequate financial resources; (4) must
understand that fast and clear communication is essential; (5) must be a good manager who
understands when to employ specialist staff and management; and (6) must have good
knowledge of the industry and people involved.

TEN GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR THE MARKETING OF AFFORDABLE

IRRIGATION DEVICES

Egan (2000) describes the ten principles for the successful mass-marketing programme for
treadle pumps and identifies seven constraints, including NGO paternalism, donor ambivalence
to the market approach, and the quick-buck attitude of the private sector. An attempt will be
made here to examine if and how a programme to support market-led importation of small-
scale irrigation equipment could follow these ten principles:

1. Make equipment affordable. Egan estimates that a rural household cannot invest more
than US$50. With some effort, it seems possible to import a complete pumpset from

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India and China for about US$2 500 to irrigate 20 ha along a river or a lakeshore. This
means that 50 households will have to pool resources to buy a single pumping unit. An
alternative to selling equipment is renting it.
2. Sell to individual farmers. Indeed, this would be ideal, but only rich or well-connected
farmers will be able to do this. However, no single farmer can carry out all the work
involved in growing 10 or 20 ha of wet rice, so mechanized low-lift pumping is an
obvious group activity. Rental of equipment to groups has met with few difficulties in
the Timbuktu area of Mali. Egan’s treadle pump, on the other hand, is an individual
piece of equipment par excellence.
3. Do not give subsidies. It is not easy to compare different experiences, but it seems
safe to say that subsidies, or giving away pumpsets, should be avoided at all costs. In
the case of credit programmes, there should be strict adherence to the principle that
loans should be paid back. It is a well-known fact that the rich take advantage of credit
programmes. Curiously, in some countries, major programmes continue to give away
European pumpsets to groups that have no interest in irrigation whatsoever.
4. Sell a viable product. According to Egan, the pay back of a pump must be less than a
year and product durability should be five times the payback period. Low-lift pumps
along the Niger river in Mali satisfy this criterion easily: the investment cost per
household is US$50 dollars for 0.4 ha. The expected production in the case of wet rice
can be estimated at 0.4 x 4 tonne/ha = 1 600 kg @ US$0.15/kg = US$240 or almost
five times the investment cost. A product durability of 5 000 hours to ensure five years
of lift irrigation seems feasible. Much depends on local maintenance expertise (see 9
below).
5. Use local manufacturers. It is impossible to compete with Asian prices, so this is not
a feasible option in West Africa, with the possible exception of Nigeria. On the other
hand, it is possible, although probably not cheaper, to assemble pumpsets locally,
using Asian pumps and engines. There must be more than one importer to avoid lack
of competition.
6. Work with the private sector. This is the essence of a programme supporting market-
led importation of small-scale irrigation equipment.
7. Develop a critical mass. Egan develops this principle from a marketing point of view.
It seems that the principle equally applies to importing equipment to ensure low
transportation costs.
8. Advertise. Besides making the product known, it also creates the image that this is a
class product and not some inferior one.
9. Provide service and maintenance. If the product is guaranteed and service and
maintenance are available, then the farmers become interested and will purchase.
10. Have a coordinating agency. There is a need for an NGO to take the lead to ensure that
the pumps are imported (in the case of treadle pumps: manufactured) and marketed.

A framework for import promotion

Once it is clear that there is a need to promote the importation of small-scale irrigation
equipment, a specialized agency could be mandated to guide the process as outlined in
Box I–2.

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Box I–2 Framework for import promotion

1. Mandate importation support agency;
2. Carry out studies on equipment;
3. Draw up a list of potentially interesting equipment;
4. Short-list equipment to be tested or imported;
5. Determine conditions of use and organize maintenance;
6. Provide importation support;
7. Evaluate results and decide on follow-up; and
8. Scale up importation.

Explanatory notes to Box I–2:

1. After the decision to promote the importation of affordable and efficient small-scale
irrigation equipment, an agency should be mandated to promote importation using a
two-pronged strategy: (1) by encouraging and supporting private importation initiatives
(importers, farmer organizations); and (2) by funding research and extension with
farmers organizations or other organizations involved in supplying or maintaining
irrigation equipment. In the second case, private sector participation can be ensured
by subsidizing the importation of trial equipment.
2. Carry out three interrelated studies on equipment demand, importation and supply of:
• existing equipment and its use in country (field study of between two weeks and
two months; in the case of low-lift pump schemes note the discharge (number of
hectare), static head, and other variables and check how they match equipment
characteristics);
• importers and their products (1 or 2 weeks); and
• overseas suppliers and their products (time input depends on prior knowledge,
ambition and required detail);
and the studies will: (a) result in an assessment of the appropriateness of current
equipment; (b) highlight the demand for other equipment by end-users in general and
identify potential participants for on-farm trials in particular; (c) provide an insight
into the perception of importers of alternative supplies; and (d) contribute towards
a body of knowledge on competitive sources of equipment, its characteristics and
qualities. The investment in knowledge on new equipment will require a long-term
effort. Since the need for this type of knowledge is regional rather than national, there
is scope for international cooperation. A regional expert or a team of two experts with
complementary expertise could carry out preparatory visits to countries, such as China
and India, followed by visits with local agencies’ representatives.
3. Establish a list of potentially interesting equipment. This is a long list of equipment;
where demand in the country has been determined. In some cases, the demand will be for
the substitution of inappropriate equipment for reasons of insufficient affordability or
efficiency. In other cases, there will be scope for importing new types of equipment.
4. Decide on a short-list of equipment to be tested or imported. This will involve:
(1) a pre-assessment of the affordability of the equipment; (2) a decision on whether
to encourage importation directly or to test with farmers organizations; and (3)
coordination with other countries (to avoid duplication). Prioritization should be
carried out with transparent end-user involvement, to avoid marketing difficulties in
phase 8 below.

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5. Decide on the conditions of use and the organization of maintenance. A contract could
be established for importation after tendering with different importers. The tendering
document should provide the necessary details. The use of the subsidized equipment
will be subject to a contract. It may not always be the best way to demand an importer
to maintain an adequate supply of spare parts; initially it is likely to be cheaper and
easier to rely on airfreight for the supply of additional spare-parts. Arrangements to
this effect should be made prior to importation of the equipment (reliable contact in
supplying country + spares list).
6. Provide importation support (see the section on supporting market-led importation
of small-scale irrigation equipment in this article).
7. Evaluate the results and decide on follow-up in terms of affordability (marketing
efficiency, demand) and technology (efficiency, reliability, etc.) and decide on follow-
up: (1) in the case of a positive result of technology research, whether or not to promote
private importation; (2) in the case of private importation, whether more assistance
will be needed; and (3) if there is a need for other equipment to be imported. (Process
re-iterative from here on);
8. Scale-up importation. The main problem of importation is likely to be on the demand
side and something may have to be done to: (1) improve credit supply to end-users in
target groups or encourage the establishment of rental services in the case of relatively
expensive durables, such as pumpsets; (2) ensure that end-users make good use of the
equipment (promote maintenance and repair services); and (3) encourage the donor
community not to introduce its own equipment, but instead involve them at an early
stage to assist in testing and introduction of selected equipment.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There is considerable scope for the promotion of the importation of diesel-powered pumpsets
for low-lift irrigation from India and China. With the exception of principle 2 (‘sell to individual
farmers’), the same principles that were successfully applied by IDE (Egan, 2000) for mass-
marketing over a million treadle pumps and the market-led approach outlined by Cutler (1993)
and Drew (2000) could be used to stimulate the importation of affordable equipment.

It is recommended that:
1. Existing experiences should be built on with Asian equipment. Examples are the 500
Kirloskar TV–1 pumpsets in Burkina Faso, 50 Chinese Changchai S195N engines in
Niger, perhaps more than 1 000 Chinese 170F pumpsets in Mauritania, and possibly
hundreds of Anil and Rhino engines in Mali.
2. Statistical information is collected on small-scale irrigation. Prior to this small-scale
irrigation will have to be defined and classified. Without a clear definition of what
small-scale irrigation is, it will be impossible to collect meaningful statistical data to
assess the medium and long term effectiveness of policies for small-scale irrigation
development.
3. Equipment demonstrations are organized from other developing countries, such as
India and China, as suggested by Zhou Weiping (1997). In some cases, the challenge
lies in technical demonstrations and in demonstrating the commercial and institutional
framework in which the technology can be profitably deployed and replicated.

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4. Investment is made in technical knowledge of Asian equipment for use in training

courses and equipment selection. The write-off period of such investments is likely
to be long, since Asian equipment does not change much. This technical knowledge
should include maintenance manuals, parts lists, and case studies. Perhaps the South-
South Initiative of the FAO could help. Also, develop training material, including
importation protocols, to overcome the language barrier between French-speaking
importers and English-speaking exporters in India and China. Everything should be
well documented and stored to ensure public access.
5. Initially, market-led equipment import support should be directed to Burkina Faso,
Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal. Collect information on about
20 types of equipment and initially select one or two for promotion in each country.
6. The use of Internet and ARID-L is encouraged (ARID’s small-scale irrigation network)
to exchange information. Promote the development of a ‘publish or be damned’ attitude
(Van’t Hof, 2001).
7. One-desk importation systems are developed for equipment that is crucial to
development, such as small-scale irrigation pumps. According to some studies, the
barriers at some borders are such that they are the equivalent of thousands of miles of
sea transport.
8. Quality standards are established for the importation of equipment. An important
aspect of quality is pumping efficiency and overall pumping cost as explained in
Van’t Hof (2000a and b) and illustrated with a case study by (Arby and Van’t Hof,
2000). The case study also demonstrates that it is not necessarily expensive to carry
out importation studies. From 1998 to 2001, the GIE Hair Goumo used a shoestring
budget of less than US$5 000 for an independent evaluation of a low-lift pumpset
from India that irrigates 14 ha of wet rice (Arby and Van’t Hof, 2000). This type of
initiatives should be encouraged or supported.

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REFERENCES

Arby, D. 1998. Systèmes de Location de Groupes Motopompes dans la Vallée du Fleuve Niger
dans la Région de Tombouctou au Nord du Mali http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/HIPPOMP/hari.
htm

Arby, D. & Van ‘t Hof, S. 2000b. Evaluation d’une motopompe Kirloskar TV-1/NW9ME à
Kakondji, Tombouctou, Mali. http://www.hipponet.nl/ressources/kirloskar_abstract.htm

Bom, G.J. & Van Steenbergen, F. 1997. Fuel efficiency and inefficiency in private tubewell
development. Energy for Sustainable Development, 3(5) 46-50 http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/
HIPPOMP/solartec2.html

Cutler, M. 1993. Investment criteria to ensure a successful private sector post-harvest

enterprise.

De Lange, M. 1997. Promotion of low-cost and water saving technologies for small-scale
irrigation. In: http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7314E/w7314e0p.htm

Drew, C. 2000. Researching the marketing chain. In Post-harvest News No. 2, June 2000.
http://www.iita.org/publib/phnews2/ph-mi1.htm

Egan, L.A. 1997. The experiences of IDE in the mass marketing of small-scale affordable
irrigation devices. http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7314E/w7314e0u.htm

FAO. 1996. Successful approaches to water development: low-lift pump schemes; in Technical
background documents to the World Food Summit. Rome, Italy. http://www.fao.org/wfs/
final/e/volume2/t07b-e.htm#LOW-LIFT PUMP SCHEMES

FAO. 1997. Irrigation technology transfer in support of food security. Conference proceedings,
pp..191, Harare, Zimbabwe.http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7314E/W7314E00.htm

Gadelle, F. 1998. Optimisation des équipements pour la petite irrigation en Afrique de l’Ouest :
Inventaire des expériences existantes. In : atelier FAO/IPTRID sur le transfert de technologies
en irrigation en support à la sécurité alimentaire, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), décembre
1998.

Jeune Afrique. 1998. Atlas du Burkina Faso.

Mabry, J.B. 1993. The ethnology of local irrigation. In: http://galley.uapress.arizona.edu/books/

BID1001.htm

Mabry, J.B. and Cleveland, D.A. 1993. The relevance of indigenous irrigation: a comparative
analysis of sustainability. In:http://galley.uapress.arizona.edu/books/BID1001.htm

Norman, W.R. and Walter, M.F. 1993. Microsystems Irrigation in Niger, West Africa. Journal
of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering. 119 (5) pp. 880–896.

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Appropriate water-lifting technologies in West Africa – Annex I

Perry, E. 1997. Low-cost irrigation technologies for food security in sub-Saharan Africa.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7314E/w7314e0o.htm

Rukuni, M. 1997. Creating an enabling environment for the uptake of low-cost irrigation
equipment of small-scale farmers. http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7314E/w7314e08.htm

Sundaram, C.R.S. 1997. Review of the irrigation equipment manufacture and supply sector
in India.http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7314E/w7314e0r.htm

Uphoff, N. 1986. Improving international irrigation management with farmer participation:

getting the process right.

Van’t Hof, S. 1998. The Design of a Low-lift Irrigation Pump Pilot Project: Improving
the availability of affordable pumpsets to African farmers: http://web.inter.nl.net/hcc/
HIPPOMP/comparis1.htm#Résumé:

Van’t Hof, S. 2000a. PumpSelect: an Excel application-cum-database for pump selection and
evaluation. http://www.hipponet.nl/ressources/pumpselect.xls

Van’t Hof, S. 2000b. Affordable low-lift pumping for small-scale irrigation development:
appropriate equipment selection. http://www.hipponet.nl/ressources/manuel_abstract.htm

Van’t Hof, S. 2001. Roving course on pump selection: Burkina Faso and Niger; in: Journées
d’Irrigation, Ouagadougou, 23–26 April 2001.

Zhou Weiping. 1997. Review of the irrigation equipment manufacture and supply sector in
China. http://www.fao.org/docrep/W7314E/w7314e0t.htm

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Appropriate water-lifting technologies in West Africa – Annex I

Internet resources
DPS: the characteristics of the HW or HBC/HBG series of mixed-flow pumps from China can
be downloaded from: http://www.bit.net.au/~dps/index.htm A price list of low-pressure
lay flat pipe is also included.

FAO: perhaps the South-South initiative of the FAO could assist in some technology transfer aspects
of small-scale irrigation equipment from Asia to Africa, see: http://www.fao.org/spfs/

Gangadhar provides a good overview of Indian engines http://www.cncw.com/gangadhar/g21.

htm

Juling provides an overview of single cylinder engines up to 23 hp: http://www.juling.com/txt/

DIESELENGINE.htm.

Kirloskar is a major producer and exporter of engines and pumps from India, see www.
kirloskars.com

Swan provides a good overview of the smallest Chinese diesel engines, both old and new,
water-cooled and air-cooled. http://www.jc-swan.com/e-product.htm

Wuxi and Tianyi pumps give an idea of the pumps in China, including diesel pumps: http://
www.js.cei.gov.cn/jsmeio98/0200007/ewxsbc_q.htm http://www.tianyipump.com/
products/default.htm.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The support and contributions of Drs Raf Grubben, president of the HIPPO Foundation, are
gratefully acknowledged.

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