Irrigation infrastructure and satellite-measured land cultivation impacts: Evidence from the Senegal river valley

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cisse, Abdoulaye; de Janvry, Alain; Ferguson, Joel; Gonzalez-Navarro, Marco; Mbaye, Samba; Sadoulet, Elisabeth; Syll, Mame Mor Anta
• 署名单位: The World Bank; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Wisconsin System; University of Wisconsin Madison; Universite Gaston Berger
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103615
• 发表日期: 2026
• 关键词: irrigation; Satellite images; Land use; agriculture; AFRICA; Senegal

摘要

Expanding irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa is widely viewed as a promising strategy for closing yield gaps and enhancing resilience to climate change. Drawing on more than 3,000 satellite images over a 30-year period, we examine the impact of irrigation infrastructure development in the Senegal River Valley. We find that cultivation rates increase substantially following irrigation project completion. Cultivation rates are remarkably stable at around 25 percentage points above pre-irrigation levels for the first 20 years, and trend even higher from years 20 to 25. Moreover, we show that crops cultivated on irrigated land are significantly less sensitive to both positive and negative temperature shocks, underscoring the role of irrigation in climate adaptation. Despite these aggregate gains, we document considerable heterogeneity in project outcomes, with intermittent land use remaining widespread. To shed light on these patterns, we complement the satellite analysis with farmer survey data, which point to persistent water access constraints as a key barrier to continuous cultivation-constraints that cannot be resolved solely through individual farmer action.