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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Massive water projects leave a parched landscape high and dry

Ambitious irrigation schemes are planned for sub-Saharan Africa — but those already built have a dismal track record.
Tono irrigation scheme, Ghana.

Ghana’s Tono scheme (pictured) provides water to only about 60% of its original target area, but is still more successful than most large-scale irrigation projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Credit: Timothy Foster, Sarah Redicker and Roshan Adikhari

Most large-scale irrigation projects built in sub-Saharan Africa over the past six decades have failed to work as advertised.

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Nature 589, 495 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-00137-5

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