Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 45 ( 1993 ) 47-58 47 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam Irrigation development strategies in sub-Saharan Africa: a comparative study of traditional and modern irrigation systems in Bauchi State of Nigeria Kpotun Mohammed Baba School o f Agriculture, A bubakar Tarawa Balewa University, P.M.B. 0248, Bauchi, Nigeria (Accepted 30 October 1992) ABSTRACT Baba, K.M., 1993. Irrigation development strategies in sub-Saharan Africa: a comparative study of traditional and modern irrigation systems in Bauchi State of Nigeria. Agric. Ecosystems Environ., 45: 47-58. The focus of irrigation development in most sub-Saharan African countries appears to be shifting towards small-scale irrigation based on motorised pumps. The success of this approach depends, how- ever, on its widespread adoption by farmers who are accustomed to traditional small-scale irrigation systems based on shadoof, calabashes, buckets, etc. To get the farmers to adopt the modern system, it must be proved to be superior to the traditional methods. This study was therefore aimed at compar- ing the potentials of the new system with the traditional one. To achieve this, data were collected from farmers producing vegetables (tomato, pepper, onion and eggplant) under shadoofand pump irriga- tion systems in Bauchi State in the 1987-1988, 1988-1989 and 1989-1990 dry seasons. Analysis of the data revealed that pump irrigation is superior to shadoofin terms of resource use, yield and profit. INTRODUCTION Irrigation has been defined as the application of water to the soil for the purpose of supplying moisture essential for plant growth. It is also undertaken to provide an insurance against droughts; for cooling the soil and atmosphere, thereby providing a more favourable environment for plant growth; to wash out or dilute salts in the soil; to reduce the hazard of soil piping, and to soften tillage pans (Israelsen and Hansen, 1962 ). Irrigation would not be necessary if the distribution of rainfall were ideal for the growing of crops. Such perfection is, however, rarely attained and rain- fall varies from one place to another and from time to time. Through a com- Correspondence to." K.M. Baba, Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, Nigeria. © 1993 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved 0167-8809/93/$06.00