Carbon Footprint of Agricultural Development: the Potential Impact of Uptake of Small Electric and Diesel Pumps in Five Countries in Sub Saharan Africa

This 2010 research paper by the Stockholm Environment Institute estimates the carbon footprint of smallholder diesel and electric irrigation pumps in five Sub-Saharan African countries. The study finds that emissions from these pumps are currently a negligible fraction of national agricultural emissions and are unlikely to become significant even under high-adoption scenarios, though local water resource stress may pose a more immediate environmental risk.

• Carbon dioxide emissions from smallholder irrigation pumps in the five studied Sub-Saharan African countries are currently very low, representing significantly less than one per cent of each country's agricultural sector emissions in 2010.
• Even in a hypothetical 'worst-case' scenario where every smallholder farmer uses a pump, the resulting carbon dioxide emissions would still remain below one per cent of the current total emissions for the agricultural sector.
• While carbon emissions are low, the abstraction of water for irrigation is a more significant environmental concern, particularly at the local level. In Burkina Faso, the highest estimate for current pump abstraction is just under 3.5 per cent of the total renewable water resource, but this could rise to approximately 28 per cent by 2025 if adoption rates double every five years.
• Ethiopia is identified as having the highest potential for carbon dioxide emissions from diesel pump irrigation among the studied countries, with potential emissions reaching up to 250 million metric tonnes by 2025, while Zambia is expected to contribute the least.
• The study notes that diesel pumps in Sub-Saharan Africa generally operate at shallower depths (not exceeding eight metres) compared to pumps in India, which contributes to the lower carbon emissions observed in the African context.
• Although diesel pumps were the primary focus due to poor rural electrification, the study suggests that electric pumps could be a cleaner alternative in most of the studied countries because hydropower is the dominant energy source, except in Burkina Faso.

APA

Sugden, C. (2010). Carbon Footprint of Agricultural Development: the Potential Impact of Uptake of Small Electric and Diesel Pumps in Five Countries in Sub Saharan Africa. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/carbon-footprint-agricultural-development.pdf

Chicago

Sugden, Catherine. Carbon Footprint of Agricultural Development: the Potential Impact of Uptake of Small Electric and Diesel Pumps in Five Countries in Sub Saharan Africa. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2010. https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/carbon-footprint-agricultural-development.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sugden |first1=Catherine |title=Carbon Footprint of Agricultural Development: the Potential Impact of Uptake of Small Electric and Diesel Pumps in Five Countries in Sub Saharan Africa |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=2010 |url=https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/carbon-footprint-agricultural-development.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sugden2010carbon, author = {Sugden, Catherine}, title = {{Carbon Footprint of Agricultural Development: the Potential Impact of Uptake of Small Electric and Diesel Pumps in Five Countries in Sub Saharan Africa}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2010}, url = {https://www.sei.org/mediamanager/documents/Publications/Air-land-water-resources/carbon-footprint-agricultural-development.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }