Presented by Vara Prasad [Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab - Kansas State University] about the small-scale irrigation water management SI assessment framework for system analyses. This poster was presented on 5 - 8 February 2019 at the Africa RISING Program Learning Event.

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This poster is made possible by the support of the American
People provided to the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for
Sustainable Intensification through the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID). The contents are the sole
responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
views of USAID or the United States Government. Program
activities are funded by USAID under Cooperative Agreement No.
AID-OAA-L-14-00006.
Small Scale Irrigation Water Management: SI Assessment Framework for Systems Analyses
INTRODUCTION
CONCLUSIONS
Sustainably Intensified Production Systems Impact on Nutrition
(SIPSIN) is a collaboration between SIIL (including ASMC), ILSSI
and the Nutrition Innovation Lab that explores the impact of
sustainably intensified production systems on farm family
household nutrition. The collaboration involves field studies and
household surveys which provide the databases for modeling of
SIPSIN results in Northern Ethiopia. The collaboration involves
Texas A&M University, International Water Management
Institute, International Livestock Research Institute,
International Food Policy Research Institute, North Carolina A&T
University and Tufts University School of Medicine.
SYNERGIES ANDTRADEOFFS
The Integrated Decision Support System (IDSS) uses a systems
approach to evaluate production, environmental, economic and
nutritional consequences of farming systems. In this example,
focus is on results and analysis of field studies on tomatoes.
There is a strong correspondence between the ILSSI and SIIL
frameworks. The outcomes are stated here in terms of the SI
Assessment Framework. The IDSS measures and models the
results of varying farming system inputs such as fertilizer and
water, costs of inputs and prices of commodities and the use of
various management systems. The SI assessment framework
and related radar chart provide a simultaneous visualization of
the multiple variables providing a way of visualizing the
tradeoffs between them in the production systems being
modeled under SIPSIN.
In this example, the comparison of economic results of various
small- scale irrigation methods showed that drip irrigation
provided the greatest yields with least environmental impact
such as soil erosion. The furrow irrigation system provided the
greatest economic and nutritional outcomes but had the
highest environmental consequences.
The collaboration between ILSSI (with the IDSS), SIIL- ASMC,
and Tufts University Medical School provides output to address
key elements of the SI Assessment Framework. The radar
chart provides a useful method of simultaneous visualization
of SIPSIN results. The more detailed evaluation of the
nutritional outcomes awaits completion of the endline survey
studies. Farmers in this consortium use a combination of cash
from sale of and direct consumption of product to offer the
possibility of improved household nutrition. In this example,
while furrow irrigation provided the greatest economic return,
the drip irrigation system, using less water, showed a better
overall outcome across the array of SI framework indicators.
This is only an example of a broader analytic product from the
SIPSIN collaboration. ILSSI also provides scaling of results from
farm to national level. Stakeholder use of the SIPSIN product
will be enhanced by development of a dashboard approach to
simplify use of the IDSS
Figure 1. Economic impact of SSI technologies and water use efficiency on tomato.
Figure 2. Radar chart that presents the synergies and tradeoffs of intensification of SSI
0
25
50
75
100
Under-Irrig.
(100 mm)
Furrow Irrif
(250 mm)
Optimal Furrow
Irrig. (400 mm)
Drip Irrig. (250
mm)
Profit&B/Cratio
Avg. profit (x1000 Birr)
Change in profit (%)
B/C ratio
RESULTS
The drip irrigation system, using less water, showed a better
overall outcome across the array of SI framework indicators.
Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab (SIIL); Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI), Nutrition Innovation Lab, and
Appropriate Scale Mechanization Consortium (ASMC)