Despite the strong emphasis on irrigation development in Southern Africa, different initiatives from technology developers, policy developers and development organizations to encourage water transport technology adoption have often been disappointing. The lack of long-term success can partly be contributed to a mismatch between farmer realities and technology packages, national irrigation management and development aid policies. In order to better design and promote adoption of water transport technology alternatives, it is important to create a clearer understanding of the full spectrum in which farmers operate and make farming and investment decisions. This study therefore analyses the diversity in decision-making variables influencing the adoption of water transport technologies, and considers the implications for policy & technology developers, researchers and development facilitators. Following the Q-methodology, four different factors of participants with respective sorting characteristics were identified. Thereafter the study reviews how conventional ways of grouping farmers in policy and development programs hold up against the statistically formed factors. The results show that the definitions used in the conventional way of grouping are inadequate in dealing with the subjectivity surrounding adoption of water transport technologies in Malawi. With this new appreciation for the heterogeneity of farmers comes an understanding that technologies, policies and programmes must move away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approaches to more targeted, tailor-made approaches that are more likely to facilitate efficient, sustainable and long-term uptake of water transport technologies. Policies and technology packages do not have to be tailor-made on individual scale, but should recognize the idea that there are many different kinds of farmers that base their decision-making on different variables. Recognizing this and translating it into contextualized support and technology packages can more effectively encourage uptake of water transport technology by farmers. Also, the study shows that Q-methodology can act as an useful tool to better understand farmer decision-making, feeding policy and technology discussions and development. The research seeks to contribute towards the understanding of farmer decision-making and improved action around implementation of water transport systems.

For this thesis, the focus is on aQysta’s Barsha pump. aQysta is a Dutch start-up that develops hydro- powered water pumps for irrigation purposes. The Barsha pump uses the kinetic energy of water flowing through rivers to pump water to smallholder farmland for irrigation. The pump requires no external power source and all the energy required comes directly from the flow of the river. It is therefore a highly sustainable alternative to the currently used pumps, using fuel or diesel as a power source. These traditional pumps create greenhouse gas emissions and high operating costs for farmers. The aim of this thesis is to research and design a Product Service System (PSS) around the Barsha pump. Through a thorough desk research, threats and opportunities for the business model were identified. The main complication was identified to be the fact that farmers do not have a desire to use a sustainable pump if the investment costs are high. Therefore, the PSS should solve this matter by making it more affordable for farmers to buy such a pump. As there are no operational costs when using the Barsha, the PSS can focus purely on the overcoming the high initial costs.

Additionally, the opportunity of implementing a PSS for the Barsha pump was critically analysed. The attitude of the customers towards the service system as well as the simplicity of the service system are critical. If the system is too complicated, farmers are reluctant to use this and the chance of aQysta implementing it reduces significantly. Furthermore, the governmental subsidies for agriculture should be taken into account as this is a great opportunity to overcome the high initial costs. However, these subsidies also create a threat as they cause the farmers to be conceited and no longer willing to pay for any form of service or product.

Fieldwork was performed locally in Nepal to gather data and experiences from the different stakeholders: farmers, the government and possible partners. By communicating with people locally, further opportunities and complications were identified. It was verified that farmers are in great need of financial support for covering the upfront costs. Furthermore, it was identified that the farmers desire training about farming and need a connection with the market. A good designed PSS could help by delivering this.

The fieldwork determined the feasibility of a PSS for the Barsha pump and with the gained knowledge two designs were made. The concept design, Barsha Basecamp was validated by aQysta out of which the final design: Barsha Summit derived. A result-oriented PSS, where aQysta is responsible for the whole value chain and offers farmers a guaranteed income.

The conclusion of this thesis is that the ideal PSS, which is one that makes profit and creates impact on society, does not exist for this case. Also, too many variables exist which makes it too complex to stick to only one business model. The final design for this thesis is a sustainable business model that works well in theory, but it is yet to be determined whether it will work in practise as well.