Abstract

Water is one of the very important inputs necessary for the production of food crops. Food security and rural livelihoods are essentially linked to the accessibility of water for crop use. Eighty percent (80%) of the world’s global agricultural land area is under rain-fed; this contributes to 58% of the world’s staple foods. It is known that 97% of the moisture needs of crops in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are fulfilled mainly by water stored in the soil through rainfall. Rainfall is the cheapest source of natural water supply for agriculture in SSA however, due to highly unpredictable and sporadic seasonal rainfalls, water stored in the soil, in most cases, cannot meet the requirements for crop growth and development resulting in lower crop yields with consequent food insecurity. It is important that water in rain-fed agriculture is used efficiently and effectively through interventions that conserve soil water. Thus, water productivity under rain-fed agriculture must be enormously improved particularly in dry climate by farming practices that conserve soil water alongside water use efficiency in crops. Implementation of crop production systems where less water is use, are the current necessity in achieving sustainable production of food. Therefore, water management through agronomic practices is a critical constituent that needs to be adopted in the current challenge of rainfall variability, climate change and expected increase demand for food. This paper highlights potentials of some agronomic practices such as crop selection, mulching, fertilization, and soil tillage in improving soil water use for sustainable crop production.