Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 25 ISSUE 1
Written by Naoko OKA, Abdul-Ganiyu SHAIBU

In Sub-Saharan Africa, small reservoirs that collect unused surface water have a high potential to improve agricultural productivity if developed. However, since water from small reservoirs is used for multiple purposes, allocating water for domestic use is crucial and needs to be prioritized over irrigation water in irrigation planning from small reservoirs. Thus, this study quantifies the water used at home in some rural communities in northern Ghana to develop an estimation method of water availability for irrigation development in small reservoirs. The applied methods are questionnaire-based interviews and measuring containers installed with a sensor logger to obtain long-term data. The measurement period was two years and nine months, from June 2017 to March 2020. The results clarified the general water use situation and seasonal differences in household water use. Further, an equation to estimate the domestic water demand is proposed with a value of 30 L per person per day as a guideline for the amount to be secured as household water in irrigation planning from small reservoirs.

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