Boosting the productivity of smallholder farming systems continues to be a major need in Africa. Challenges relating to how to improve irrigation are multi‐factor and multisectoral, and they involve a broad range of actors who must interact to reach decisions collectively. We provide a systematic reflection on findings from the research project EAU4Food, which adopted a transdisciplinary approach to irrigation for food security research in five case studies in Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tunisia. The EAU4Food experiences emphasize that actual innovation at irrigated smallholder farm level remains limited without sufficient improvement of the enabling environment and taking note of the wider political economy environment. Most project partners felt at the end of the project that the transdisciplinary approach has indeed enriched the research process by providing different and multiple insights from actors outside the academic field. Local capacity to facilitate transdisciplinary research and engagement with practitioners was developed and could support the continuation and scaling up of the approach. Future projects may benefit from a longer time frame to allow for deeper exchange of lessons learned among different stakeholders and a dedicated effort to analyse possible improvements of the enabling environment from the beginning of the research process. © 2020 The Authors. Irrigation and Drainage published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage
Agriculture in developing countries will have to transform and increase production by an estimated 70% in order to meet demands by 2050. Although well‐managed commercial farms offer little manoeuvring space for increasing agricultural water productivity, smallholder farms usually operate at low input costs and therefore provide ample opportunities to reduce the potential yield gap through agricultural intensification. The aim of this paper is to analyse and compare yields and water productivities obtained in field and modelling experiments in Ethiopia (maize, garlic, onion), South Africa (tomato) and Tunisia (tomato, potato, wheat). Innovative agricultural practices were introduced on smallholder farms: irrigation scheduling and NPS Zn fertilization in Ethiopia; high‐yielding cultivar, drip irrigation, mulching and organic amendments in South Africa; and crop water modelling in Tunisia. In general, crop yields increased up to eight times with innovative practices compared to current conventional farming practices. Crop water productivities were fairly stable within the same experiments, but increased with innovations, indicating that intensive farming can be more environmentally sustainable than conventional farming. Intensive farming systems in a resource‐rich environment (high radiation levels, relatively fertile, deep and well‐drained soils), combined with technology transfer and capacity building could be seen as viable strategies to secure food for smallholders and communities in African rural areas, as well as to improve water utilization in water‐scarce catchments. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Promoting innovation to improve both productivity and sustainability of irrigated farming systems is crucial for the first question addressed within the Sustainable Development Goals process led by the United Nations. This is a complex task that requires methods and processes which include a diversity of knowledge. For this reason, participatory approaches have been increasingly encouraged. A broad range of methods have been developed in the literature. However, debates on the effectiveness of the results, including questions on how different stakeholders influence results and how the context influences platform processes, remain theoretical. In this article, the authors evaluate the results of a participatory diagnosis aiming to identify the constraints and possible innovations to improve agricultural production in the Brahmi irrigation scheme in Tunisia. The process was implemented with individual interviews and focus groups operationalized through two types of platforms, 'Community of Practice (CoP)' and 'Learning and Practice Alliance (LPA)'. We highlighted that both CoP and LPA offer fruitful platforms for the interaction of all stakeholders. However, the results could be biased by the context and the expectations and strategies of powerful participants. RÉSUMÉPromouvoir l'innovation pour améliorer la productivité et la durabilité des systèmes agricoles irrigués est crucial pour répondre aux premiers objectifs du développement durable promu par les Nations Unies. Cette tâche exige l'effort de diverses disciplines. Les approches participatives ont donc été de plus en plus encouragées et développées dans la littérature. Cependant, les débats sur la qualité des résultats, y compris des questions sur les biais relatifs au type des parties prenantes et au contexte, restent théoriques. Dans cet article, les auteurs évaluent un diagnostic participatif visant à identifier les contraintes et les innovations possibles pour améliorer la production agricole dans un périmètre irrigué en Tunisie. Le processus a été mis en oeuvre d'une part avec des entretiens individuels et d'autre part avec des ateliers collectifs à travers deux types de plates-formes, Communauté de pratique (CoP) et Forum d'échange d'expérience (LPA). CoP et LPA offrent tous deux une plate-forme fructueuse pour l'interaction de toutes les parties prenantes. Cependant, les résultats peuvent être biaisés par le contexte, les attentes et les stratégies des participants puissants. Les entretiens individuels sont complémentaires des ateliers collectifs, en particulier dans les situations où des conflits ouverts ou latents existent.
The precise estimation of water demand at large-scale irrigation perimeters is a key requirement for water management. Most methods for estimating water demand use biophysical models and cropping patterns but do not account for the wide range of actual farming practices. As a result, these methods only allow estimation of theoretical water demand. The objective of this study was to analyze different methods for evaluating irrigation water demands using several levels of knowledge about irrigation perimeters such as crop water requirements, cropping pattern, irrigation techniques, and water application depths (WAD). Most of this knowledge was related to farming practices, which can vary. Farm typology is an appropriate way to account for the variability in farming practices. These methods were applied in an irrigation scheme in northern Tunisia. The perimeter was subdivided into two sectors: the first sector was designed for surface irrigation and the second for sprinkler irrigation. The first method estimated water demand at the scheme scale based on actual cropping patterns and assuming that farmers used the planned irrigation techniques and satisfied plant water requirements (L 1 ). However, the farmers did not use the planned irrigation techniques. Instead, they combined surface, sprinkler, and drip irrigation techniques depending on the crops they were growing.The second method examined current irrigation techniques using the results of farm typology that provided the areas under each crop irrigation system (L 2 ). The two methods provided a theoretical water demand model at the scheme scale. However, water demand also needed to account for actual WADs (L 3 ). Field surveys were performed to evaluate the WAD of each crop irrigation technique. Methods L 1 and L 2 showed similar estimations of water demand at the scale of the perimeter, and the savings in water obtained by converting to drip irrigation were balanced by a reduction in sprinkler irrigation due to conversion to surface irrigation. In contrast, the L 3 method estimated 50% lower water demand than that provided by L 1 or L 2 , since the supply of water was insufficient. The irrigation network was designed 50 years ago and no longer corresponds to the needs of current farmers. Farm typology was also shown to be a method that accounted for farm diversity; water demand estimated based on typology differed by only 5% from that obtained by summing the needs of individual farms. RÉSUMÉUne estimation précise de la demande en eau d'irrigation à l'échelle du périmètre irrigué est un point-clé pour la gestion de l'eau. La plupart des méthodes d'estimation de cette demande en eau utilise des modèles biophysiques et l'assolement sans tenir compte des pratiques des agriculteurs. Ces méthodes évaluent ainsi une « demande en eau théorique ». L'objectif de cet article est d'étudier plusieurs méthodes d'estimation de la demande en eau d'irrigation mobilisant différents niveaux de connaissances : les besoins en eau
Malgré les efforts de la recherche et les multiples interventions des États, la productivité des ressources en eau, terre et capital, reste souvent limitée, notamment en Tunisie. Cette étude présente un cadre d'analyse des performances des exploitations agricoles irriguées. Elle vise à étudier le niveau et les déterminants effectifs de ces performances. Des informations technico-économiques ont été collectées à travers des enquêtes détaillées. Elles ont servi à calculer l'efficience technique (ET) et l'efficience d'utilisation de l'eau d'irrigation (EUEI) par une analyse par enveloppement des données (DEA). Ces efficiences ont été soumises à une analyse statistique pour les mettre en relation avec des variables de terrain. Les résultats montrent que l'ET est satisfaisante : 0,84 en moyenne. Par contre, l'EUEI est plus faible : 0,61 en moyenne. Il existe donc un potentiel important d'amélioration de la valorisation de l'eau. L'approche a permis de dégager les facteurs influant le plus sur ces efficiences ; ce sont d'abord la facilité d'accès à l'eau, puis la possibilité d'accès aux crédits. Ces deux facteurs peuvent constituer des leviers d'amélioration des ET et des EUEI. Ni les techniques d'irrigation utilisées, ni les cultures pratiquées, ni le mode de distribution de l'eau, n'influencent les différences des efficiences calculées. La pratique de l'élevage joue de façon significative sur les différences des EUEI, ce qui montre que l'eau est mieux valorisée que les fourrages et l'élevage. Les projets de modernisation, qui visent la conversion des réseaux de distribution gravitaires en réseaux sous pression, devraient tenir compte de ces résultats : à elle seule, la conversion ne suffit pas à améliorer l'efficience. Des scénarios d'amélioration n'exigeant pas d'importants investissements pourraient donc être plus intéressants que ces conversions qui impliquent d'énormes financements.Mots clés : efficience d'utilisation de l'eau ; eau d'irrigation ; exploitation agricole ; viabilité économique ; économie agricole ; performance.Thèmes : eau ; économie et développement rural ; méthodes et outils. Abstract Performance of small irrigated farms in Tunisia's Lower Medjerda ValleyDespite research efforts and the multiple interventions of States, the productivity of water, land, and capital resources is often low, particularly in Tunisia. This study provides a framework for analyzing the performance of irrigated farms and examines the level and the effective determinants of this performance. Technical and economic data were collected through detailed questionnaires and used to calculate technical efficiency (TE) and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) for each farm, with the data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. These efficiencies were subjected to statistical analysis for a set of field variables. The results show that TE is satisfactory at 0.84 on average. However, IWUE is much lower, at 0.61 on average. There is therefore significant potential for improving it. The most important determinants of the efficiencies ...
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