1) The document summarizes findings from field studies on small-scale irrigation in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Ghana that were conducted to identify constraints and opportunities for smallholder farmers. 2) Preliminary results found that the economic feasibility of irrigation technologies varies by crop, gender, and location, and that there is high variability in irrigation applied and yields between farmers using the same technologies. 3) Shallow groundwater is identified as an untapped potential for sustainable intensification, though site-specific technologies are needed that account for landscape context and recharge rates.

1. DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2011.0383DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2011.0383
INNOVATION LAB ON
SMALL SCALE IRRIGATION
Jennie BARRON with Nicole LEFORE and Petra SCHMITTER
Stockholm World Water Week 28th August 2016
Insights and Opportunities from New Field Studies with
Small-scale Irrigation in Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Ghana

2. RESURGE IN IRRIGATION INVESTMENTS AND INTEREST IN SSA
Manage water security for development and environment
• Adapt to CC
• Respond to food, fodder and fibre demand
• Provide opportunities for rural incl. women and youth

3. Low yield, predominantly rainfed crop production systems
Productive use of surface and groundwater for irrigation in sustainable
intensification
Transition
Pressure
Soil fertility:
organic matter
management,
nutrient input
Water
availability:
climate, surface
and
groundwater
availability,
infrastructure
Water access:
Drilling
capabilities,
pumps and
energy sources
Land tenure
and pressure:
human and
livestock
population,
consumption
demand
Market
conditions:
access and
prices
TRANSFORMATION THROUGH SMALLHOLDER IRRIGATION:
WORKING WITH IDENTIFIED CONSTRAINTS
• Manual water lifting
technologies &
• Gender (labour)
Limited GW recharge &
availability
• Low market price for produce
• Land and water tenure
• Lack of
micro-credit
• Limited access to high quality
seed/ fertilizer

4. UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL FOR SMALLHOLDER
AGRICULTURE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
• What technologies, tools and approaches make women and men farmer
profit and improve wellbeing?
water access , water scheduling
• How can these be enabled for women and men farmers?
revolving funds, opportunistic value chain engagements
• Can adoption be sustainable in landscape and with other water users?
monitoring of water resources use on landscape scale

5. water access , water scheduling

6. • Technical efficiency evaluated based on production (econ. analysis) decreases as
irrigation water applied increases
• R&W efficiency vs. Pulley: strongly site specific
• Women seem equally efficient with onion and napier but less for tomato (T. Assefa, 2015)
GENDER HAS IMPLICATIONS ON ENABLING
IRRIGATION WITH MANUAL WATER LIFTING

7. FARMERS’ CHOICE OF TECHNOLOGY PREFERENCE
BY SITE
• Possible reasons: accessibility of water sources
• Preliminary results of cost-benefit analysis show that the economic feasibility of
irrigation technologies vary by crop, gender and site.
Site
% of sample farmers who prefer
Motor pump R&W Pulley
Adami-Tulu 70 28 2
Lemo 16 41 43
Robit 55 2 43
Dangeshita 7 65 28
(M. Dessie, 2015)

8. WATER MANAGEMENT TOOLS HELP FARMERS
INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
•

9. revolving funds, opportunistic value chain engagements

10. PROVIDING MEANS TO INVEST
• Testing different models: revolving funds Tz, micro credits Eth
• Assessment of financial institutions’ lending capacity for irrigation
technology
Emerging findings:
• Women disadvantaged because of lack of control (not always utility) of
assets such as land
• Low capacity of MFI to raise capital/ cash
• Financial literacy of farmers and financial institutions needs capacity
development

11. EMERGING COMMODITIES PROVIDES OPPORTUNITIES :
FODDER MARKETING
Fodder type Wet season
Price (TSh)
Dry Season
Price (TSh)
+/- Unit
Natural grass mix 30k 40k +25% pickup
Rice straw 35k - Lorry
Dry maize stover 30k 40k +25% pickup
Napier grass 1.5k 3k +50% load

12. WATER PRODUCTIVITY AND ECONOMIC GAIN DOES NOT
ALWAYS TALLY
• Large variability in irrigation applied without significant increases in yield
• Most water productive doesnot translate automatically to most economic gain per
input of water
• Oats & Vetch and Desho promising irrigated crops (annual vs. perennial)
• Tomato seems to give the highest return for the water abstracted assuming water
availaiblity is not a constraint

13. monitoring of water resources use on landscape scale

14. SHALLOW GROUNDWATER IS AN UNTAPPED POTENTIAL
FOR SUSTAINABLE INTESIFICATION.....
• Annual average rainfall: 1450 mm
• Runoff = 675mm
 Recharge is 30% of rainfall at watershed
scale = 400 mmYilak et al in prep.
0
100
200
300
400
500
May,
2014
Jun,
2014
July,
2014
Aug,
2014
Sept,
2014
Oct,
2014
Nov,
2014
Dec.,
2014
Jan,
2015
Rainfallandrechargedepth,mm Date
Monthly average recharge
Monthly Rainfall , mm

15. R² = 0.5
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
0 5 10 15
TotalRecharge,m
Water storage depth of the well, m
a
Yilak et al. (in prep)
..BUT SHALLOW GROUNDWATER NEEDS
TECHNOLOGIES IN TUNE WITH LANDCSAPE CONTEXT

16. EMERGING MESSAGES
• What technologies, tools and approaches make women and men farmer
profit and improve wellbeing?
Water lifting can make profit for men and women
Motorized pump and rope & washer more promising
• How can these be enabled for women and men farmers?
Provide solutions addressing labour and gender
Models for access to micro finance
Promising opportunities in emerging markets such as fodder
• Can adoption be sustainable in landscape and with other water users?
Shallow groundwater has great scope for residual moisture and dry
season sustainable intensification
Economic productivity may be more important than water
productivity to scale

17. www.feedthefuture.gov

18. U.S. GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

19. • ETH Constraints for male and female irrigators in relation to water lifting and water management is different
•ETH Variability between farmers in the same site, same technology and same water management is high => continuation
needed to confirm preliminary findings
•ETH Need for site specific irrigation recommendations: water - labor and land availability whilst making a good economic
decision on what to grow
•GHA Opportunity for rainwater harvesting and water storage in northern Ghana: for households with rooftops with
corrugated iron.
•GHA Shallow wells provide reliable water source for SSI-start planting in September/October each year to meet periods of
peak water requirement
•GHA There are serious water deficits at watershed scale: need for 1100 to 1300 mm to meet irrigation water needs
throughout the dry season
•GHA Challenges with use of WFD - farmers and AEAs require additional training
• TZ Farmers should receive adequate training on how to operate, repair and maintain the Water lifting and water use
technologies
•TZ Develop and proactively enforce policies, regulations and by-laws to protect water use structures
•TZ Farmers must have access to credit tailored to their conditions.
•TZ The local government must devise strategic means of availing financial resources to in invest in water lifting and water use
technologies
•TZ Strengthening the local water governance institutions such as WUAs is important for sustainable up-scaling of WUTs.
CONCLUSIONS

20. MAIN ACTIVITIES
• GW/SW use: manual/& motorized
water lifting devices
(pulley, rope and washer, petrol & solar
pump)
• Gender: female & male irrigators
• Irrigation management
(Soil moisture based, CWR (ET), WFD,
Drip & conservation agriculture - NCAT)
• Crops
(vegetables, fruit trees & fodder)
• Improving groundwater recharge
• Credit constraints and opportunities
(survey & interviews, revolving fund)

21. SITES OF ACTIVITIES

22. WATER APPLIED
119
109
104
90 65
Length Growing period
• 20 % GW recharge <Irrigation depth applied >< 40 % GW recharge (except for
supplementary irrigation of Desho and O&V)
• Variation in irrigation water applied, influenced rather by manual water lifting than
water management and gender
(Source data: M. Tesema, T. Ewnetie, H. Mulugeta and D. Tegegne, 2015)