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Innovation Lab For Small Scale Irrigation

Innovation Lab For Small Scale Irrigation

Innovation Lab For Small Scale Irrigation

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resilience

Four papers on water and climate change impacts in Ethiopia and Ghana

March 17, 2020 by Marianne Gadeberg

Four recent publications from the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) investigate how climate change is likely to affect water availability in the future. All four papers present results that suggest needs to put in place measures to adapt to and mitigate risks of plausible climate change.

Gebrekidan Worku, Ermias Teferi, Amare Bantider, Yihun T. Dile. 2019. Observed changes in extremes of daily rainfall and temperature in Jemma subbasin, Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia

ILSSI scientists have been supervising a graduate student from Addis Ababa University who analyzed observed extreme rainfall and temperature in the Jemma subbasin of the Upper Blue Nile basin in Ethiopia. The analysis used data for the period 1981 to 2014. Results showed an increasing trend of annual and summer rainfall and a decreasing trend of spring rainfall in most parts of the subbasin. An increase in rainfall and extreme temperature events was also observed. The study recommends appropriate water management interventions to adapt to and mitigate risks associated with the observed changes in rainfall and temperature.

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Gebrekidan Worku, Ermias Teferi, Amare Bantider, Yihun T. Dile. 2020. Statistical bias correction of regional climate model simulations for climate change projection in the Jemma subbasin, Upper Blue Nile Basin of Ethiopia

One of the challenges in climate change studies is selecting the right type of bias correction methods. Biases are systematic errors, either decreases or increases, in actual observations or estimates in climate data. This study, applying several statistical matrices, found that the distribution mapping technique was better for correcting biases than other methods. Distribution mapping is a distribution-based approach that corrects the mean, standard deviation, and extremes and distribution of rainfall and temperature events of climate model outputs. The distribution mapping was applied to bias correct the future (2021–2100) simulation of Regional Climate Models, which showed a decline of rainfall and an increase of temperature as well as of extreme rainfall and temperature events in each of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC)’s three scenarios for plausible future greenhouse gas emissions trajectories.

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Abeyou Wale Worqlul, Yihun Taddele Dile, Essayas Kaba Ayana, Jaehak Jeong, Anwar Assefa Adem, Thomas Gerik. 2018. Impact of climate change on streamflow hydrology in headwater catchments of the Upper Blue Nile basin, Ethiopia.

In this study, ILSSI researchers assessed the impact of climate change on water availability and variability in two subbasins in the Upper Blue Nile basin of Ethiopia. An emission scenario representing the baseline period (1961–1990) was used to predict future climate and as input to a hydrologic model to estimate the impact of future climate on the flow of water in the two rivers in three future time horizons: 2020–2045, 2045–2070, and 2070–2100. Daily maximum/minimum temperatures are expected to increase throughout the future time horizons. The minimum and maximum temperature will increase by 3.6 °C and 2.4 °C, respectively, toward the end of the 21st century. Consequently, potential evapotranspiration is also expected to increase by 7.8%. The increase in evapotranspiration suggests increased crop water requirement in future crop production, which must be taken into account when planning future irrigation infrastructure. A notable seasonality was found in the rainfall pattern, such that dry season rainfall amounts are likely to increase and wet season rainfall to decrease. The hydrological model indicated that the local hydrology of the study watersheds will be significantly influenced by climate change. Overall, at the end of the century, water flow will increase in both rivers by up to 64% in dry seasons and decrease by 19% in wet seasons.

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Abeyou W. Worqlul, Yihun T. Dile, Jaehak Jeong, Zenebe Adimassu, Nicole Lefore, Thomas Gerik, Raghavan Srinivasan, Neville Clarke. 2019. Effect of climate change on land suitability for surface irrigation and irrigation potential of the shallow groundwater in Ghana. 

ILSSI researchers applied a GIS-based Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) technique to evaluate the suitability of land for irrigation in Ghana for a baseline period (1990–2010) and future time horizons, namely the 2050s (2041 to 2060) and the 2070s (2061 to 2080). Model results suggest that due to climate change, on average, rainfall will increase by 15 mm in the 2050s and 20 mm in 2070s, compared to the baseline period. Results on average temperature show a consistent increase across most of Ghana, which will increase potential evapotranspiration by 6.0% and 7.6% in the 2050s and 2070s, respectively. As a result of these changes to rainfall and temperatures, 9.5% of the current land area that is suitable for irrigation will become unfavorable for irrigation in 2050s, and may continue to become unfavorable in the 2070s, reducing land suitable for irrigation by 17%.

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Solar-powered irrigation could boost climate resilience for millions

March 10, 2020 by Marianne Gadeberg

Sewagegn, a local smallholder farmer, and Gebeyaw, a data collector, set up Sewagegn's solar powered pump to irrigate her backyard garden in Danghesta, Amhara region of Ethiopia. Photo by Mulugeta Ayene/WLE.
Sewagegn, a local smallholder farmer, and Gebeyaw, a data collector, set up Sewagegn’s solar powered pump to irrigate her backyard garden in Danghesta, Amhara region of Ethiopia. Photo by Mulugeta Ayene/WLE.

The impacts of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa are severe and have far-reaching consequences for millions of smallholder farmers. Rising temperatures, destructive locust swarms, and increasingly erratic rainfall make it difficult for farmers to grow food and meet basic needs.

Expanding small scale irrigation is emerging as part of the solution. When farmers take irrigation into their own hands, they are able to increase production, both by supplementing their rainfed crops with irrigation and by growing an additional harvest during the dry season. Small scale irrigation brings immense benefits, including better nutrition, higher incomes, and greater climate resilience.

Coming up on this year’s World Water Day, which is about water and climate change, we are taking a closer look at what it will take for even more farmers to get started with small scale irrigation.

Putting solar-powered irrigation to the (field) test

During the past few years, ILSSI and its partners, namely the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), have worked with farmers to test a number of small scale irrigation technologies. The researchers looked at how to support farmers to improve agricultural production, water use efficiency, and water productivity, and they addressed challenges related to gender inequality, lack of access to credit, and the technology supply chain.

One thing has become clear: solar-powered pumps can offer an affordable and effective irrigation solution when shallow groundwater or surface water resources are available.

Solar-powered pumps offer opportunities for farmers who are in rural areas without access to electricity. Using solar irrigation lowers costs compared to running petrol-powered pumps, and addresses other constraints related to fuels.

According to a recent report from Dalberg, “These solar water pumps have the potential to reach up to 1.6 million households in sub-Saharan Africa by 2025 and as many as 2.8 million households by 2030—a value of approximately USD 1.6 billion by 2030”. To get the best results for farmers, investments in solar-powered irrigation should be coupled with strengthening agricultural value chains, so that equipment is easily accessible in the market and produce can be off-loaded at attractive prices.

To give guidance on where solar-powered irrigation investments might best be made, IWMI researchers – partially funded by ILSSI and working as part of the CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) – developed a methodology for mapping the suitability of solar irrigation. They have now generated maps for Ethiopia, Mali, and Ghana.

During roundtable meetings organized by ILSSI, private companies have shown interest in using these maps to assess where they could grow the market, based on available resources and infrastructure. Technology supply companies have noted that they have a stake in water resource sustainability, and welcomed maps that considered agro-ecological zones, water resource availability and sustainability, as well as market factors, such as demographics and infrastructure. Companies have an interest in both economic and natural resource sustainability, but often lack the resources to individually develop such complex maps.

Mequanent Tena, 20, works as a data collector at the Qoga site near Bahirdar in Ethiopia. More than 1,068 farmers benefit from the use of Chameleon sensor, an irrigation scheduling tool, which primarily uses color to indicate when farmers have irrigated just the right amount.
Mequanent Tena, 20, works as a data collector at the Qoga site near Bahirdar in Ethiopia. More than 1,068 farmers benefit from the use of Chameleon sensor, an irrigation scheduling tool, which primarily uses color to indicate when farmers have irrigated just the right amount. Maheder Haileselassie/IWMI.

In addition to the solar suitability mapping, IWMI – through ILSSI and the Africa RISING project – have tested irrigation scheduling tools. Introduction of irrigation scheduling has enabled farmers to achieve higher water productivity. Farmers were also able to reduce their labor input by knowing when to use how much water, and that in turn meant they produced more and better crops. While the impact of using the tools varied by country, depending on capacity and information access, evidence suggested that irrigation scheduling tools have the potential to improve farmers’ income and enhance water resource management.

Expanding with the help of private sector and development partners

Two main avenues exist for expanding the use of small scale irrigation. A market-based approach seeks to strengthen the equipment supply chain and connect irrigating farmers to produce markets. Where markets are less developed, or there is a need to support resource-poor farmers, development partners and public institutions are making investments in this field.

Currently, with support from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), IWMI with Futurepump and partners are scaling out the use of solar suitability maps through an online interactive tool for sub-Saharan Africa. This open access tool, currently in a test phase, can help companies determine where solar pumping would be suitable, thereby reducing the risks they might otherwise face when investing in frontier markets. The tool is currently being evaluated by private sector partners in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Mali.

The tool can also be used by development partners and NGOs to target their interventions and activities in solar-powered irrigation, and it is already in high demand. For example, GIZ found the mapping tool to be a good investment, and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is requesting national suitability analysis in West Africa to inform their regional programs.

The irrigation scheduling tools have also drawn the attention of development partners. Research under ILSSI and Africa RISING in Ethiopia suggested that farmers learn from these tools – and from each other – influencing when and how much they irrigate. These promising results have spurred other efforts. For example, a larger assessment in Ethiopia to build local communication networks for water user associations (WUA) around ICT and non-ICT based scheduling tools is funded by FAO. Along the same lines, a low-cost irrigation scheduling sensor is currently being considered for scaling in other African countries through the Water Enabler Compact under the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation program funded by the African Development Bank.

Future efforts toward outcomes

A better understanding of barriers to and opportunities for expanding small scale irrigation is one important outcome of this ongoing research by ILSSI and its partners. These insights have informed private sector companies, donors, and development partners, which are now using ILSSI’s evidence and related tools to guide their investments in irrigation. IWMI, with the support of ILSSI and GIZ, has developed a private sector survey to further identify systemic barriers in irrigation supply chains.

Over the coming years, ILSSI will continue to help along investments in farmer-led irrigation – enabling irrigation investors to scale and expand – thus contributing to greater food production and climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa.

Partner news: Benefits of farmer-led irrigation are “immense”

March 5, 2020 by Marianne Gadeberg

The following update on the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation was originally published by agrilinks.org.

Why small-scale irrigation?

In sub-Saharan Africa, scarce and increasingly variable rainfall represents a major risk. It severely impedes agricultural growth, hampers productivity and makes it difficult for farming households to meet basic needs. Investing in sustainable, profitable, and gender-sensitive irrigation can help alleviate these threats, create greater climate resilience, and put millions of farmers on the path toward food and nutrition security.

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) has become a global leader in generating evidence that can inform investments in support of the U.S. global food security goals. Our focus on small-scale, farmer-led irrigation is a shift from earlier trends in research and investments that focused on public, communal schemes. The performance of such larger irrigation schemes has often been disappointing – partly due to water governance challenges – but when farmers take matters into their own hands and make their own, smaller investments, the benefits of irrigation prove to be immense.

ILSSI has demonstrated that farmers’ own investments hold high potential to increase incomes both for farmers and actors in irrigated value chains, while contributing to agriculture-led economic growth. Research also suggests that households that invest in farmer-led irrigation have better nutritional security. There are multiple pathways between irrigation and nutrition, but farmers often use their increased income to purchase food for a more diverse, and nutritious, diet. Irrigated production also generally increases the availability of vegetables and leafy greens on the local and regional market, thus supporting more nutritious diets not only for farmers themselves, but communities in general. Achieving greater gender equality through irrigation production is also possible, but requires support for empowering women farmers. ILSSI has focused on the value chain for irrigated fodder, which is showing promise, particularly in Ethiopia, to provide animal feed at critical times.

More food and better lives

As men and women farmers make the transition from rainfed to supplemental and dry season irrigated production, ILSSI has tested new tools, technologies and practices to enhance water productivity, boost agricultural yields, improve health and nutrition, strengthen farmers’ resilience and promote gender equality.

  • Conservation agriculture practices and small-scale irrigation can reduce the risks of water scarcity and meet growing food demand. These methods also improve quality and yields of produce at the same time.
  • Solar pumps for water lifting can bring down costs of irrigation for farmers living in rural areas and are a preferred technology for agriculture and domestic uses. ILSSI has supported the development of an open access, interactive tool for solar suitability mapping throughout sub-Saharan Africa, which is now enabling companies to know where solar pumping would be suitable, reducing the risks of investing in frontier markets, and helping NGOs and donors target solar irrigation interventions.
  • Irrigation scheduling tools can enable farmers to achieve higher water productivity and reduce their labor input by showing when to irrigate and how much water to use. Such tools can also increase farmers’ yields and boost the quality of produce. The use of these water-scheduling tools is being taken forward by donors, including in an FAO-funded project with water user associations in Ethiopia, reaching more than 600 farmers.
  • Fodder for livestock can be supported by small-scale irrigation, and it can help farmers diversify their incomes while securing adequate animal-sourced foods, such as milk, for their families. Promising results are drawing the attention of farmers and government officials in Ethiopia.
  • Irrigation can improve nutrition through multiple pathways. ILSSI partners and researchers have been working with the World Bank to support nutrition-sensitive irrigation investments.
  • Improving access to credit would allow even more farmers to benefit from small-scale irrigation. Microfinance options that could support smallholders to access pumps and other equipment do exist, including new ideas such as “Uber for the farm”, but need to be brought to scale.
  • Realizing the full potential of small-scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa requires improving gender equality in agriculture. Not only in terms of access to technologies and equipment; it also means ensuring that women can reap the benefits of irrigation.

Taking solutions forward

Building on research from its first phase (2014–2018), ILSSI is now investigating how to feasibly and sustainably expand small-scale irrigation and is directing more resources to improving access and adoption through market systems. ILSSI is partnering with private companies in Ghana and Ethiopia to test ways to build input and output markets around irrigated value chains to establish affordable, reliable supply for example pumps and to foster a viable, healthy market for irrigated crops such as vegetables and seeds. Solar pumps will be a central technology, along with the critical component of appropriate credit and finance – all part of effective and sustainable business models. We are also partnering with small and medium enterprises and cooperatives in Ethiopia to strengthen irrigated fodder production and markets, and examining irrigated seed production for vegetables. Business models that promote gender equity and opportunities for youth are also being sharpened.

Small-scale irrigation technology and water resources may be primarily used for agriculture, but also provide water for consumptive and non-consumptive uses. ILSSI is working with the Household Water Insecurity Experiences network on the effects of water access for productive uses, on domestic and other uses, toward reducing water insecurity. Our focus continues to be farmers’ own irrigation investments, while also deepening our analysis of the changing climate and water-related risks from household to watershed and basin level to increase both environmental and social resilience.

Ethiopian cuisine’s star ingredient provides clues on how to farm in a climate-change era

February 3, 2020 by matt.stellbauer

Using conservation agriculture practices can increase food production while safeguarding water and soil on farms and across drier, hotter landscapes.

This post was first published on agrilinks.org.

Farmers in Danghesta village, Amhara region, Ethiopia, rely on solar-powered small scale irrigation and conservation agriculture techniques to grow onions and other vegetables. Photo by Mulugeta Ayene/WLE.
Farmers in Danghesta village, Amhara region, Ethiopia, rely on solar-powered small scale irrigation and conservation agriculture techniques to grow onions and other vegetables. Photo by Mulugeta Ayene/WLE.

In Ethiopian cuisine, onion rules. Stews, sauces, and salads all rely on onions as a star ingredient, and market stalls are stacked high with fragrant bulbs. Across the country, onions contribute significantly to food security, adding taste and nutrients to diets otherwise mainly made up of cereals.

Despite their popularity, onion crops yield much less in Ethiopia than in other African countries. Farmers here, like elsewhere, use irrigation to cultivate onions. In fact, farmers prefer to irrigate onion more than other crops, thanks to the high demand and high prices for onions. But yields remain low.

Finding out how to increase the yield and quality of onion and other irrigated crops — such as cabbage, tomatoes, and potatoes — is an urgent priority amid a rise in droughts and dry spells. In the past, most Ethiopian farmers have relied on rain to water their crops, but because rainfall has become less reliable, pumping water from shallow groundwater reserves, reservoirs, or streams to water crops is emerging as a necessary alternative.

However, irrigation must be done without reducing water for downstream users or ecosystem services and without causing environmental harm, such as water pollution or excessive soil erosion. Done right, irrigation can enable farmers to grow more nutritious food all year round and provide water for other purposes, such as household and sanitation uses.

To test how to increase onion yield, and at the same time use water and soil most productively, we set up a trial with 34 farmers growing Red Bombay onions in the Dangela administrative district of the Amhara region during the dry season from December 2016 to March 2017. We wanted to find out how using a set of practices known as “conservation agriculture” could improve not only productivity, but also environmental sustainability, incomes, and nutrition.

What is conservation agriculture

On the left, farmers have applied mulch around the onions, one of the conservation agriculture techniques that leads to higher yields and improved water productivity. Photo by Mulugeta Ayene/WLE.
On the left, farmers have applied mulch around the onions, one of the conservation agriculture techniques that leads to higher yields and improved water productivity. Photo by Mulugeta Ayene/WLE.

What we call conservation agriculture is a certain way of farming that is based on three main principles: farmers plough the soil with minimum disturbance, mulch is used to cover the soil between crops, and the kinds of crops grown on a certain plot change every season.

In general, conservation agriculture is expected to increase the yield of vegetable crops. In addition, the practices improve soil quality, including by increasing soil moisture and minimizing the loss of valuable topsoil. Rotating crops between seasons also helps boost soil nutrients. Because moisture is better stored in the soil, the crop’s water use efficiency increases and less irrigation is needed. Finally, because the applied mulch impedes weeds, farmers’ labor burden decreases.

We collaborated with the farmers in the Dangela administrative district of the Amhara region to grow onions using conservation agriculture practices. While we provided seeds, irrigation equipment, and training, the farmers contributed their own land and saw the potential benefits as they emerged. The results were as promising as expected.

A multitude of benefits

Our field data showed that water productivity did indeed improve when farmers started practicing conservation agriculture; they were able to “grow more crop per drop of water”. Also, on average, the new practices increased yields by 35 percent, improved the quality of crops, and boosted farmers’ profitability. 

“The conventional tillage practice needs water every day since the soil dries out quickly, and plants wilt. But plants under conservation agriculture can be irrigated once in two days and do not need lots of work for hoeing and weeding,” said Mr. Girma Yihune, one of the farmers particpating in the trial. “The onion yield, and also the bulb size, is better under conservation agriculture than with conventional tillage. The amount of money made from a small 10 m by 10 m plot was higher than that of rainfed crops like teff and maize. This practice should be promoted to help the community in the area.”

In addition to observing these immediate benefits, we ran a biophysical simulation using our suite of integrated decision support system models to investigate additional effects on water and soil that we could not directly observe.

The results indicated that conservation agriculture also increased soil water availability at the onions’ roots. In cases when the farmers applied excess irrigation water, that water helped to replenish the shallow groundwater aquifer. In addition, the mulch applied by farmers protected the soil from erosion and gradually grew the top layer of organic matter in the soil.

The findings from our study indicate the importance and role of conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification of food production, while maintaining and restoring soil health, using water sustainably, providing weed control, and increasing farmers’ profitability. Conservation agriculture may also reduce greenhouse gas emissions by enabling farmers’ plots to serve as carbon sinks. Furthermore, our modeling indicated that farmers’ increased profit can be used to purchase supplemental foods, mainly animal products such as eggs, meat, and milk products, thus improving the nutritional security of their households.

From farm plots to larger landscapes

The benefits of conservation agriculture are evident and well demonstrated at the field level. What’s more, these benefits can potentially accumulate and expand to the watershed or basin scale. These practices have the potential to both contribute to soil and water conservation and to strengthen the socio-economic well-being of the entire Amhara region and across the Ethiopian Highlands.

Particularly during a time of climate variability and change, conservation agriculture can play an important role in supporting communities who are facing negative effects, such as less rain, higher temperature, and more pests, which are impeding their food production. In this context, conservation agriculture practices in combination with small scale irrigation can offer farmers a viable option for greater, better, and more sustainable production.

To reach the full potential of conservation agriculture in Ethiopia, a shift in mindsets and practices is needed. Encouraging farmers, for example, through stronger extension programs that showcase the benefits of conservation agriculture and explain how to put it into practice is a first step. Continuing collaboration between scientists and farmers can help shed light on what incentives can drive greater adoption of conservation agriculture, eventually informing enabling policies and programs. Working together to explore and fulfill the promises of conservation agriculture, we can enable sustainable food production, not only for individuals farmers, but across entire landscapes.

This post is written by Abeyou W. Worqlul, Manoj K Jha, and Yihun Dile, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation

Student interview: Raising the alarm on farming-related water pollution in the Ethiopian Highlands

December 10, 2019 by matt.stellbauer

In 2017-2018, Feleke Kuraz Sishu joined ILSSI’s capacity development program for graduate students, and he investigated the impacts of agricultural intensification on surface and groundwater in the Ethiopian Highlands. He is a student at the Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia, and he is currently at the university in Calgary, British Columbia, for a three-month study experience.

Feleke Kuraz Sishu conducted fieldwork in the Robit and Dangila watersheds in the Ethiopian Highlands between 2017 and 2018. Photo: Feleke Kuraz Sishu/Bahir Dar University.
Feleke Kuraz Sishu conducted fieldwork in the Robit and Dangila watersheds in the Ethiopian Highlands between 2017 and 2018. Photo: Feleke Kuraz Sishu/Bahir Dar University.

What were you studying while you were working with ILSSI?

I studied how agricultural intensification impacts nutrient and pesticide fluxes in streams and shallow groundwater systems in the Ethiopian Highlands. I monitored two agricultural watersheds, Robit and Dangila, between 2017 and 2018. We sampled water from streams during storms and dry periods, and we collected groundwater samples from more than 30 wells located either in rainfed or irrigated fields. Then we analyzed the level of agro-chemicals in the water.

Feleke Kuraz Sishu is a student at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.
Feleke Kuraz Sishu is a student at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia.

What’s the most surprising thing you found?

We found nitrate in the shallow groundwater samples, with a higher concentration in samples taken on upper and mid-level slopes, than in those taken at the bottom of slopes. Having a high concentration of nitrate in groundwater poses a risk to human health, especially if the water is used for drinking.

The presence of nitrate can be explained by different things: first, farmers are beginning to fertilize their rainfed and irrigated fields on the upper and mid-level slopes, meaning that they add nitrogen, which is a critical plant nutrient. However, when crops are not able to use up all the nitrogen, it leaches into the groundwater and causes high concentrations of nitrate. We discovered that in some areas, the level of nitrate exceeded the permissible 10mg/l limit for drinking water. It is likely that intensified farming and fertilizer application are among the causes for high levels of nitrate in the groundwater.

When we looked at streams, we found both nitrate and dissolved phosphorus, which is another common component of fertilizer. In both watersheds, the level of nitrate and phosphorus in streams exceeded the threshold limit more than fivefold. When the streams empty out into Lake Tana, which is the largest freshwater body in Ethiopia, the result is an explosive growth of algae and other plants. This threatens the lake’s ability to provide water, fish and other benefits.

Our results indicate that degraded landscapes with poor watershed management activities, combined with high rainfall during the rainfed farming season, contributed to nitrogen leaching and likely caused the increased levels of nitrate and dissolved phosphorus.

Finally, we also detected pesticides used by farmers in streams and shallow wells. The concentration exceeded the threshold limits set by the World Health Organization of 0.1 μg/l for each kind of pesticide and 0.5 μg/l in total.

Installing water sampling instruments over a stream. Photo: Feleke Kuraz Sishu/Bahir Dar University.
Installing water sampling instruments over a stream. Photo: Feleke Kuraz Sishu/Bahir Dar University.

What changes do you hope your work will help achieve?

Our findings from these two watersheds point to poor watershed management, intensive farming and the threat from increasing use of fertilizer in the uplands. Based on our observations of Lake Tana, which is suffering from a water hyacinth invasion brought on by the excessive nutrients delivered by streams, these issues exist across the northern Ethiopian Highlands.

The health and environmental risks stemming from these issues should be a major cause of alarm, and therefore we have worked to raise these issues and share recommendations with government officers, non-government actors, community watershed managers and communities themselves in the area.

For example, we have informed these stakeholders about which wells hold groundwater that is so polluted by nitrate that it should not be used for drinking. We have also started discussions about what changes communities can make to limit pesticide use, and we have raised the issue at the policy level, since Ethiopia currently has no regulations on pesticides for agricultural use.

We hope that our recommendations and engagement with stakeholders will lead to changes that can safeguard the clean water supply and support environmentally sustainable agricultural intensification.

What do you think is the biggest challenge for scaling farmer-led irrigation?

From a water quality perspective, the fact that both surface and groundwater is so vulnerable to contamination from pesticide and fertilizer use is the biggest challenge. That’s one reason we need to identify areas that are suitable for irrigation – and thus agricultural intensification – but at the same time less vulnerable to pollution from agro-chemicals. This is a pressing challenge for local farmers, and therefore an opportunity to collaborate with them on research for development activities.

What is your advice to other students looking to work with Feed the Future innovation labs?

I am very thankful to ILSSI for funding and providing all requested facilities during my research. I got an opportunity to work with students from different countries, with researchers and with different institutions – this helped me gain skills, share experiences and develop future collaborations. Therefore, I would like to advice the students interested in working with ILSSI that it is a great chance to conduct research and network with scholars from around the world. Thank you!


On an ongoing basis, ILSSI supports a number of graduate and honor’s undergraduate students from academic institutions in Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania. We pair them with experienced scientists from our partner organizations, who mentor the students through proposal, research design, field work, data collection, analysis and presentation of results. These capacity development efforts underpin the long-term scaling and sustainability of small scale irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa. In this case, Feleke Kuraz Sishu’s work was co-supported by the Feed the Future Sustainable Intensification Lab.

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