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Annelieke Duker

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Irrigation on the move

How transient farming partnerships facilitate the expansion of smallholder irrigation along ephemeral rivers in dryland areas of Kenya

Journal article - Benson M. Karimba, Annelieke Duker, Pooja Prasad, Poolad Karimi, Charlotte de Fraiture, Charlotte de Fraiture, P. van der Zaag, P. van der Zaag

Irrigation is commonly viewed as an activity fixed in time and place requiring permanent infrastructure. However, smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa engage in irrigation in diverse locations under different organizational modalities. This research analyses a flexible and d ...

Shifting or drifting?

The crisis-driven advancement and failure of private smallholder irrigation from sand river aquifers in southern arid Zimbabwe

Journal article - Annelieke Duker, T.A. Mawoyo, A. Bolding, C de Fraiture, C de Fraiture, P. van der Zaag

In recent years more recognition is given to the benefits and risks of private smallholder irrigation development across sub-Saharan Africa. It is acknowledged for its capacity to adapt to local circumstances and challenges. This study assesses the heterogeneous character of private smallholder irrigation in the challenging environment of southern arid Zimbabwe, where family farms operate along sand river aquifers, forming a reliable natural storage of shallow groundwater. It investigates the drivers, characteristics, obstacles and adaptive capacity of this yet undocumented form of private irrigation in a historically marginalised area, and in particular also the discontinuation of these informal irrigation ventures. The research combines results from analysing satellite images, and quantitative and qualitative field work, whereby a social-ecological system perspective is applied. This form of private smallholder irrigation is distinct from most other documented cases in sub-Saharan Africa. First, because of the unique interrelation between the water source, technology need and fuel-dependency in an economically marginalised area. Second, because drivers for the emergence of private smallholder irrigation are not market-based but crisis-driven; recurrent droughts and frequent dry-spells, failure of collectively-managed irrigation schemes, and persistent economic instability. As a result, many families cease operations because they reach the limits of their adaptive capacity or they migrate. Those who succeed, manage to benefit from the abundance of water stored in sand rivers, the mobilisation of knowledge and cash through rural networks, and the existence of cross-border trade opportunities. However, they hardly ever pass the level of subsistence in an area where stable markets are absent. Organising potential support to private smallholder irrigation remains a challenging and disputable avenue as this might undermine its independent and adaptive nature.@en

Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands

Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe

Journal article - Annelieke Duker, C. Cambaza, P. Saveca, S. Ponguane, T.A. Mawoyo, M Hulshof, L. Nkomo, Stephen Hussey, P. van der Zaag, P. van der Zaag, None More Authors

Alluvial aquifers in seasonal rivers are a yet underutilised resource in many (semi-)arid regions of Africa. These so-called sand river aquifers provide nature-based water storage within easy reach because they are shallow. They form a significant potential renewable source of water for irrigation development. Innovative approaches and solutions are needed to sustainably increase productive use of this resource to enhance rural livelihoods. The A4Labs action research explores the potential and pitfalls of introducing solutions designed for individual smallholder farmers. This entails innovation in three domains: the technology used (manually-installed shallow well-points in or next to a sand river combined with solar-powered water pumps), the arrangement (individual smallholder farmers), and the purpose (market-oriented farming). Pilots were established in the Limpopo river basin in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Monitoring and assessment are ongoing, but preliminary findings indicate that successful adoption of the approach was not constrained by water availability. Despite the fact that these pilots were established during two subsequent drought years, there was no difficulty in accessing freshwater in sufficient quantity. Instead, successful adoption depends on previous farming experience, market access, and the possibility to grow adaptively in terms of technology, scale and financial risks. In addition, establishing an individual farm to grow cash crops requires acceptance and new skills, as irrigation for smallholder farmers in Africa has traditionally been framed as a communal activity in “collective” irrigation schemes with strong support by outside agencies, and with the well-known collective action challenges. This action research has also estimated that the potential for upscaling this innovation in the Limpopo river basin is significant. Our innovative solution for accessing water stored in shallow alluvial aquifers can start small, is within reach of smallholder farmers (initial investment being less than US$1,000/0.2 ha), and is scalable as farmers can gradually improve their system and expand. Moreover, the solution allows for the application of “adaptive development pathways” at the river-stretch scale.@en

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Dynamic Adaptive Development Pathways

A participatory planning approach to support sustainable development under uncertain future conditions

Master thesis - E. Rietdijk, P. van der Zaag, J.H. Kwakkel, J.S. Timmermans, Annelieke Duker

Rural communities in drylands of low-income countries represent highly vulnerable societies that are often strongly affected by the increased climate variability (UNDP, 2007/2008). Additionally to climatic uncertainty, local households have also to cope with strongly fluctuating political and economic conditions, which are difficult to predict and impede regional development. Current planning practices that aim to address these uncertainties are often model based top-down focused approaches that lack an appropriate inclusion of local stakeholders. Crucial next steps are the downscaling of models to increase their local applicability and the incorporation of the knowledge and preferences of practitioners to achieve a sustainable landscape management plan. In this thesis, I developed a participatory planning approach to support sustainable development under uncertain future conditions and applied it to a case study in the southern drylands of Zimbabwe. The newly developed planning approach is based on a synthesis of current good practices in development aid and recent advancements of research in predictive planning and management. Specifically, the dynamic adaptive policy pathways (Haasnoot et al., 2013) are merged with the landscape approach (Sayer et al., 2013), which accounts for sustainable development in a participatory manner, and transformed into a new dynamic adaptive development pathways approach. The dynamic adaptive development pathways approach was applied to plan the upscaling of irrigation practices using an alluvial aquifer in Zimbabwe. A critical step was the use of visualisation sessions and focus group discussions to define the landscape area and local values, as well as to assemble a set of promising development actions. I then assessed the collected information using value matrixes and a hydrological model, to design different pathways for sustainable development. The creation of naturally, socially and ecologically sustainable pathways in a participatory manner for this case study proved possible and may function as a seed for sustainable development in the area. While uptake and application of the approach by local stakeholders still needs to be assessed, the adaptive capacity seems a valuable addition for development planning under uncertain future conditions.