Innovation Lab For Small Scale Irrigation
Yihun Dile, Ph.D., Abeyou Worqlul, Ph.D., and Jean-Claude Bizimana, Ph.D. of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation at the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M AgriLife are recipients of the Board for International Food and Agricultural Development (BIFAD) 2019 Senior Research Team Award for Scientific Excellence in a Feed the Future Innovation Lab.
The Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation hosted two Net-Map Workshops on 8 and 9 October, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshops brought together a cross-section of key stakeholders involved in the small scale irrigation sector – from equipment suppliers to farm associations, to public officials. One event focused on diffusion of small-scale irrigation (SSI) technologies in Ethiopia at the Oromia regional level and the second on the national situation. The workshops help to map out influence in a network: what actors are involved in the diffusion of SSI technologies, how these actors are linked, and their level of influence on the network. The tool allows participants to explore how things are actually done, not how they should be according to policy. Belete Bantero, a Senior Transformation Agenda Specialist with the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency, said the workshop contained “important information” and was “very important and…timely.” The participatory analysis will help to identify entry points to catalyze access to irrigation technologies for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. The activity also supports a new initiative of ILSSI that aims to strengthen the role of private sector actors in small scale irrigation.
ILSSI held a training in Ghana from 5-10 August on the Integrated Decision Support System, a set of integrated models to enable improved environmental and economic analysis, monitoring and planning, particularly as related to agriculture water management and irrigation development. The training was hosted by the CSIR’s Water Research Institute in Accra, while ILSSI provided the trainers from Texas A & M University. Over 50 participants from universities, public institutions and research institutions in Ghana participated, including some from USAID supported projects.
On July 15th, 2019 Dr. Seifu Tilahun the Scientific Director and Associate Professor of Hydrology at the Bahir Dar Institute of Technology in Ethiopia, presented to over 30 faculty and staff within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University.
His lecture, Irrigation and agriculture development in Africa: Impact on water quality and ecosystem health in the Ethiopian highlands, focused on a study being done in collaboration with The Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation. This seminar discussed emerging results, noting that evidence points to pollution and degradation associated with agricultural intensification, agrochemical use and poor chemical management practices in a study area in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia. Through his seminar, Dr. Tilahun highlighted the potential risks to ecosystem and human health while providing recommendations for preventing and addressing the challenges. The ILSSI project is working with colleagues at Bahir Dar Institute of Technology and the International Water Management Institute to improve evidence-based planning and institutional reform to mitigate risks related to rapid agricultural intensification. For more information on this study or the Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation please contact matt.stellbauer@ag.tamu.edu
Actions are needed urgently in Mali – the country is on the front-line of climate change, and expected to experience worsened food insecurity and even food shortages. The people of Mali rely heavily on rainfed agriculture, exposing them to pervasive climate-related shocks. Irrigated agriculture is one high potential pathway to increase resilience and improve food security.
With the growing urgency to expand irrigation expansion for smallholders in the region, suitability mapping can help to target the right people, in the right places and with the right technologies. ILSSI supported research to identify areas in Mali where there is a high potential for scaling solar water pumps for developing irrigation: Suitability for farmer-led solar irrigation development in Mali.
Results from the mapping show the total area suitable for solar-based irrigation varies between 0.69 and 4.44 million hectares (Mha), representing 11% and up to 69% of Mali’s agricultural lands. Groundwater up to depths of 7 m can be found near the river network in south-western Mali and the central Niger Delta making Kayes, Mopti and Koulikoro are the most suitable regions.
The mapping utilizes data including: solar irradiation, groundwater levels, aquifer productivity, groundwater storage, proximity to rivers, proximity to small dams, crop, and land suitability, and travel time to markets. Areas that are unsuitable for agricultural production, such as natural parks, forests, permanent meadows and pastures, are excluded. Suitability was assessed for five different available water sources, considering two different types of pumps.
Suitable areas could be expanded through investments in infrastructure to increase access to markets for produce. This mapping considered existing infrastructure, such as road networks and markets, so expanding that infrastructure could create greater potential in more areas.
More information, including the maps, is available in a Technical Brief. This research was carried out by the International Water Management Institute under the Water, Land, and Ecosystems Research Program. Additional funding was provided by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
