Pumped irrigation is a way to intensify smallholder production. In this context, the Dutch company aQysta has developed the Barsha pump (BP), the first-ever commercial version of the spiral pumps. BPs, however, face several constraints that affect the decision-making and access of smallholders to this and other agricultural technologies, and thus to their benefits. On this subject, Product Service System (PSS) is a type of business model able to potentially cope with a number of restrictions of different nature. Moreover, if co-created with the feedback of the users, and by addressing contextual tensions of different cases, these models can be substantially richer than their top-down counterparts. Six cases of the use of BPs have been addressed in Nepal and Malawi. Both primary and secondary data, analyzed qualitatively under the analytic induction approach, were collected through unstructured interviews and Q-methodology. Evidence shows a wide range of (non-)technical facilitating and hampering conditions for the BP, as well as preferences of the smallholders in regard to existing and proposed business model elements. Based on the corresponding analysis, a set of opportunities for an improved BP-based business model - PSS, aiming to fulfil several (and at times opposing) needs, is ultimately proposed in the current paper.

Poster presented at IRI THESys Summer School 2019

Water pumping systems driven by renewable energies are more environmentally sound and, at times, less expensive alternatives to electric- or diesel-based ones. From these, hydro-powered pumps have further advantages. Nevertheless, these seem to be largely ignored nowadays. More than 800 scientific and nonscientific documents contributed to assemble their fragmented storylines. A total of 30 pressure-based hydro-powered pumping technologies worldwide have been classified and plotted in space and time. Although these do not present identifiable patterns, some noticeable clusters appear in regions such as Europe, South–Southeast Asia, and Eastern Africa, and in timeframes around 1960–1990, respectively. Some technologies have had a global impact and interest from their beginnings until contemporary times, others have been crucial for the development of specific countries, and other ones barely had almost imperceptible lives. All of them, nonetheless, have demonstrated to be a sound alternative to conventional pumping technologies, which can be unaffordable or inaccessible, particularly in remote and off-the-grid areas. Currently, hydro-powered pumping technologies face a regained momentum, hence a potentially promising future. However, researchers, manufacturers, and users need to be aware of the importance that management systems, as well as business models, pose for these technologies beyond their mere performance.

Pumped irrigation is a way to improve water control for smallholder farming, hence to intensify its production. In this context, the Dutch company aQysta has developed the Barsha pump (BP), the first-ever commercial version of a hydro-powered pump traditionally referred to as spiral pump. BPs, however, have to deal with several constraints that affect the decision-making and access of smallholders to this as well as other agricultural (water pumping) technologies, thus to their benefits. On this subject, Product Service System (PSS) is a type of business models able to potentially cope with a number of restrictions of different nature (i.e. technical, financial, social). Moreover, if co-created with the feedback of the users, and by addressing contextual tensions of different cases, these models can be substantially richer than their top-down counterparts. From this perspective, six cases of use of BPs have been addressed in Nepal and Malawi, respectively. Both primary and secondary data, which was analyzed qualitatively under the analytic induction approach, was collected through a number of methods: on-site observations, unstructured interviews, structured questionnaires, and Q-methodology. Evidence shows a wide range of (non-)technical facilitating and hampering conditions for the use of the BP, as well as preferences of the smallholders in regards to existing and proposed business model elements. Based on the corresponding analysis, a set of opportunities for an improved BP-based business model – PSS, aiming to fulfil several (and at times opposing) needs, is ultimately proposed in the current paper.

Global food production needs to increase. Such an increase can come from intensified irrigated agriculture. Many current irrigation technologies are energy- and cost-intensive. Providing irrigation services instead of selling hardware addresses the (financial) reality of smallholder farmers and builds a sustainable business model rather than relying on charity. Besides the scarcity of financial resources, a multi-dimensional view of sustainability becomes possible, including sustained and guaranteed operation over time and more environmentally friendly processes (including longer life of technologies). DARE-TU improves livelihoods of rural communities by design and management of appropriate Integrated Turbine Pump (ITP)-based irrigation infrastructures through sustainable product-service systems. Accessible and affordable water services technologies enable high-value irrigated agriculture (in terms of income and nutrients), providing opportunities for the rural poor and improving food security. With users and supporting organizations, DARE-TU translates general design principles into functional prototypes providing ‘irrigation as a service’ to communities, based on sustainable business models that are cost-effective for smallholders and profit-effective for organizations and/or businesses. DARE-TU is based upon / has as core / is developed around theITP, an innovative hydraulic device, operating simultaneously as pump and turbine: the turbine provides energy to drive the pump. As ITP-hardware combines higher initial costs with much lower running costs compared to conventional fuel-based pumps, it is likely that ITP-systems are less affordable by individual farmers. As such, ITP business models are envisioned to be based on community appropriation and/or a model providing irrigation services. The DARE-TU project links knowledge institutions, private companies and NGOs in building/creating/constructing an iterative design process with inputs from users (co-creation) rather than setting technical parameters as given. In close cooperation with prospective users and support organizations, socio-economic contexts plus user preferences and challenges are translated into specifications and prototypes for users in different regions. DARE-TU’s innovative approach of Context Variation by Design (CVD) intentionally and systematically combines insights from different contexts early on in the process to develop solution directions.