Sub-theme
3. Building Resilience for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation
Topic
3-6. Improving resilience of water infrastructure projects for extreme events
Body
Securing water for all and harmony between humans and nature, relies on the ability of competing water users to adapt to climate change and increasing population pressure. In many water-stressed catchments, agriculture accounts for up to 80% of extractive water use. As demand from other sectors increases and supply decreases due to climate change, there will be growing pressure on agriculture to reallocate water to other uses. At the same time, agricultural production needs to increase to meet the growing demand for food. Hence, it is critical for the agricultural sector, especially irrigation, to produce more food using less water. The ability to adapt, however, depends on a wide range of factors, including policy, governance, behaviour and technology. This presentation focuses on irrigation and analyses how two interventions introduced to five irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa have improved the ability of farmers and their irrigation scheme to adapt to climate change. Over the last ten years, the project ‘Transforming small-scale Irrigation in Southern Africa’ (TISA) has used a two -pronged approach to transform dysfunctional irrigation schemes into functional schemes. Agricultural Innovation Platforms were introduced to identify barriers to increased production and profitability, and soil and nutrient monitoring tools have facilitated farmer learning about soil-moisture and nutrient dynamics for improved irrigation decision making. TISA also explored how farmers in the project coped with COVID-19 compared to farmers in non-TISA schemes. Our analyses are based on quantitative and qualitative data. Three household surveys were conducted within each scheme: a baseline survey, a survey after four years, and one after eight years. In addition, focus groups and workshops were carried out with farmers on a continuous basis. A subset of farmers has maintained field books, recording the cost of inputs, yields, output prices, and the frequency and duration of irrigation events. Field officers also regularly visited the schemes and talked to farmers and made observations on outcomes. We report on significant changes: reductions in water use; decrease in conflicts between farmers over water use and between household members over the allocation of resources; and increases in yields, gross margins, and off-farm work income. Additionally, farmers engaged in the project perceived they were less affected by COVID-19 than non-TISA farmers. Collectively, these outcomes show that TISA’s interventions have increased farmers’ adaptability, as they have prospered while using less water and thereby increased their ability to adapt to climate change and respond to unforeseen shocks.