@article{fdi:010082227,
  title = {{B}elow the radar : data, narratives and the politics of irrigation in {S}ub-{S}aharan {A}frica},
  author = {{V}enot, {J}ean-{P}hilippe and {B}owers, {S}. and {B}rockington, {D}. and {K}omakech, {H}. and {R}yan, {C}. {M}. and {V}eldwisch, {G}. {J}. and {W}oodhouse, {P}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{E}merging narratives call for recognising and engaging constructively with small-scale farmers who have a leading role in shaping the current irrigation dynamics in sub-{S}aharan {A}frica. {T}his paper explores whether new irrigation data can usefully inform these narratives. {I}t argues that, for a variety of reasons, official irrigation data in sub-{S}aharan {A}frica fail to capture the full extent and diverse nature of irrigation and its rapid distributed growth over the last two decades. {T}he paper investigates recent trends in the use of remote sensing methods to generate irrigation data; it examines the associated expectation that these techniques enable a better understanding of current irrigation developments and small-scale farmers' roles. {I}t reports on a pilot study that uses radar-based imagery and analysis to provide new insights into the extent of rice irrigated agriculture in three regions of {T}anzania. {W}e further stress that such mapping exercises remain grounded in a binary logic that separates 'irrigation' from other 'non-irrigated' landscape features. {T}hey can stem from, and reinforce, a conventional understanding of irrigation that is still influenced by colonial legacies of engineering design and agricultural modernisation. {A}s farmers' initiatives question this dominant view of irrigation, and in a policy context that is dominated by narratives of water scarcity, this means that new data may improve the visibility of water use by small-scale irrigators but may also leave them more exposed to restrictions favouring more powerful water users. {T}he paper thus calls for moving away from a narrow debate on irrigation data and monitoring, and towards a holistic discussion of the nature of irrigation development in sub-{S}aharan {A}frica. {T}his discussion is necessary to support a constructive engagement with farmer-led irrigation development; it is also challenging in that it involves facing entrenched vested interests and requires changes in development practices.},
  keywords = {{I}rrigation ; small-scale farming ; water resource governance ; remote sensing ; data politics ; narratives ; sub-{S}aharan {A}frica ; {T}anzania ; {TANZANIE} ; {AFRIQUE} {SUBSAHARIENNE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{W}ater {A}lternatives},
  volume = {14},
  numero = {2},
  pages = {546--572},
  ISSN = {1965-0175},
  year = {2021},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010082227},
}