Irrigation Innovations

Summary

Irrigation innovations can help producers grow vegetables during dry-seasons and lead to increased income. Community-led implementation of the set of innovations is critical to sustainable adoption. The introduction approach for these technologies emphasized equity and inclusion and was trialed with a women’s group in Uganda.

Challenge/Problem

Dry season vegetable production is a high priority in Uganda's largely rainfed (>97%) agricultural systems. Off-season vegetable supplies are currently inadequate to meet human nutritional needs. As rainfall patterns become increasingly unpredictable and rapid population expansion increases pressure on food systems, demand for vegetables will further outstrip supplies. Furthermore, a lack of off-season production also reflects a loss in potential income and access to nutritious vegetables.

Irrigation innovations are needed to produce vegetables in the off-season. However, irrigation innovations alone are not enough. Development of a systematic, co-innovation approach for assessing and supporting new ideas in dry-season vegetable production can strengthen small-scale farmer enterprises aimed at local markets and family consumption.

Solution

These irrigation strategies and technologies were introduced to a group of mostly women to develop dry-season vegetable production in the areas traditionally used for rice in Aloet, Uganda.

The development and implementation of these irrigation technologies was conducted in a Participatory Action Research approach. The concept of “learning by doing” is crucial to this approach and recognizes that everyone learns and changes through active adaptation of their existing knowledge with influx of new information. Here, farmer groups identified technologies of interest and, with input from technical experts, designed systems and chose technologies and social structures suited to their needs to employ new irrigation practices. The process helped ensure that technologies would be right-fit to community needs, but also left space for public and private sector organizations to develop small-scale irrigation systems. The following technologies were included in the platform from which communities selected:

- Manual Pivot Piping System: A system of piping that lays a buried section to the center of the field to be irrigated, and attaches a raised pipe (HDPE or Layflat) that can rotate in a circle. This mimics the layout of a traditional center-pivot system, but is manually moved to the plot a farmer desires to irrigate. This system allows small, individual plots to be irrigated separately and is low cost.
 

- Multiple Head Sprinkler: A 4-head sprinkler stand for high application rates to small plots.
 

- Gravity irrigation system: An irrigation system diverting water from an upslope stream using a reinforced tank built in natural rock, pressurizing water through a grid of pipe for farmers to use with drag hose or sprinkler irrigation.
 

- Flexible Rain Gun Irrigation: Irrigation design that minimize piping and make it easy to set up and move single, large sprinkler.
 

- SIRACO Drip Kit: Captures water in bucket and distributes to vegetables in an efficient manner for small-scale garden production

Results

- Women find low-pressure irrigation systems harder to operate than high-pressure systems – mainly due to greater need for carrying heavy pipes through the field with the latter.
 

- Low pressure systems achieve far higher application rates than high-pressure systems in. Low-pressure systems concentrate water by modifying soil to hold excess water and do not restrict flow, and cost significantly less than high-pressure methods.
 

- Institutional innovations addressed land access, economic benefit, and labor difficulty. Female farmers were more likely than male farmers to believe that land improvements were a benefit due to institutional innovations. However, both men and women farmers equally felt that labor and economic benefits were a result of institutional innovations much less time per square meter.
 

- Women also had both greater and more stable income from using irrigation innovations. This was largely due to women having access to their own irrigation plots in addition to family plots, as well as easier-to-use technologies, and the benefits of greater cooperation and group support that helps facilitate them to participate in irrigation. Income from irrigation plots helped provide some women with financial flexibility to put money into non-agricultural enterprises in which they were engaged.

Lessons Learned/Potential for replication

A trial and error process rather than “design and train” was key to iterating technologies and helping farmers identify what was right fit for their needs. Combinations of existing technologies, rather than entirely new ones, was sometimes the innovation. One example was use of micro-basins, a traditional irrigation technology, at one site where farmers decided to combine micro-basins with a sprinkler system. Engaging a local university enabled engineering students to collaborate with farmers in the field to solve problems as they arose. Integrating women into the decision-making of irrigation groups helped institutions to shape rules and regulations that support their needs. It is essential that this integration starts at the initiation of a project and at the initial formation of these committees.

Next Steps

Nothing is more convincing to farmers than other farmers with tangible successes. A participatory process grows farmers who are experts and leaders. The project developed a website elaborating both on these technologies and the community-led, participatory research approach. In the information in the website, there are considerable resources on how to implement a new irrigation regime in a community that is inclusive, equitable and sustainable. A key next step is the dissemination of the resources on the website and approach of the project to allow for replication and improvement on approach.