Agricultural Water Management Technologies for Small Scale Farmers in Southern Africa: An Inventory and Assessment of Experiences, Good Practices and Costs Final Report Produced by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Southern Africa Regional Office Pretoria, South Africa For Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, Southern Africa Regional Office, United States Agency for International Development Order No. 674-O-05-05227-00 (USAID/OFDA/SARO) Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Letter of Agreement No. PR 32953 April 2006 International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Southern Africa Sub-Regional Office 141 Cresswell Street, 0184 Weavind Park South Africa Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................. I LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................................................................II LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................................II LIST OF BOXES..........................................................................................................................................II ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................................... III ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... IV EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..........................................................................................................................V INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 OVERVIEW: AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES........................................................ 1 TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE STUDY...................................................................................................... 3 OVERVIEW OF FOOD SECURITY, HUNGER, AND AGRICULTURAL WATER IN SADC ........ 5 MICRO-AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE............................................................................................................................................ 8 ANALYSIS OF SELECTED EXPERIENCES IN SADC: GOOD PRACTICES ................................ 10 INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................... 10 PERSPECTIVES ON MICRO-AWM TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON PARTNERS’ INVENTORIES ............................ 13 LOW-COST WATER LIFTING TECHNOLOGIES: TREADLE PUMPS.................................................................. 20 WATER-LIFTING TECHNOLOGIES: MOTORIZED PUMPS.............................................................................. 27 LOW-COST WATER APPLICATION TECHNOLOGIES: BUCKET AND DRUM DRIP KITS .................................... 28 DIRECT APPLICATION HOSES..................................................................................................................... 33 CLAY POT (SUB-SURFACE IRRIGATION, ALSO CALLED ‘PITCHER’ IRRIGATION) ......................................... 34 IN-SITU SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES ....................................................................... 37 EX-SITU WATER HARVESTING AND STORAGE............................................................................................ 42 OTHER OPPORTUNITIES............................................................................................................................. 47 COSTS AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF SELECTED MICRO-AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES ...................................................................................................... 49 ANALYSIS OF UNIT COSTS OF SELECTED MICRO-AWM TECHNOLOGIES ................................................... 49 BENEFITS OF AWM TECHNOLOGIES ......................................................................................................... 57 OVERVIEW OF KEY ACTORS IN SADC COUNTRIES.................................................................... 61 CONCLUSIONS: MAJOR ISSUES EMERGING FROM THE STUDY............................................. 66 RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................................................... 68 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................... 73 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................................ 82 APPENDIX 1: TABLES ........................................................................................................................... 83 APPENDIX 2: LIST OF REPORTS PREPARED UNDER THIS PROJECT ..................................... 87 APPENDIX 3: SOUTH ASIA EXPERIENCE--COSTS AND BENEFITS OF SELECTED MICRO-AWM TECHNOLOGIES ………………………………………………………….. 88 List of Figures FIGURE 1. CALORIC SUPPLY AND CONSUMPTION TRENDS IN SADC REGION ................................................. 6 FIGURE 2. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX TRENDS......................................................................................... 6 FIGURE 3. PARTITIONING OF RAINFALL AT FIELD LEVEL ................................................................................. 7 FIGURE 4. AGRO-ECOLOGICAL ZONES OF SOUTHERN AFRICA ....................................................................... 14 FIGURE 5. MAJOR LIVELIHOOD STRATEGIES OF RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE SADC.................................... 15 FIGURE 6. MODE OF OWNERSHIP OF AWM TECHNOLOGIES .......................................................................... 17 FIGURE 7. TREADLE PUMP OPERATING PRINCIPLES....................................................................................... 21 FIGURE 8. BASIC COMPONENTS OF A TREADLE PUMP.................................................................................... 22 FIGURE 9. ILLUSTRATION OF TREADLE PUMPS .............................................................................................. 23 FIGURE 10. LAYOUT OF SMALL-SCALE DRUM AND DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEM............................................... 29 FIGURE 11. THE PATTERN OF SOIL WETTING AROUND A POROUS CLAY POT................................................... 36 FIGURE 12. ZAI PITS FOR WATER HARVESTING AND CONSERVATION ............................................................ 41 FIGURE 13. ROAD RUNOFF HARVESTING INTO A CHANNEL FOR CROP PRODUCTION ...................................... 43 FIGURE 14. SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF HOUSEHOLD WATER HARVESTING...................................................... 47 FIGURE 15. GENDER DIFFERENTIATED BENEFITS OF MICRO-AWM TECHNOLOGIES ...................................... 66 List of Tables TABLE 1: MATRIX OF THE KEY AGRICULTURAL WATER TECHNOLOGIES USED IN SADC COUNTRIES* .......... 11 TABLE 2. RESULTS OF INFORMAL SURVEY ON LOW-COST AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES IN SADC, AT THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN REGIONAL IRRIGATION ASSOCIATION (SARIA) WORKSHOP, 30-31 JANUARY 2006...................................................................................................... 12 TABLE 3. AWM TECHNOLOGIES AND CROPS PRODUCED ............................................................................... 16 TABLE 4. PERCEPTIONS OF THE LABOR REQUIREMENTS OF SOME AWM TECHNOLOGIES ............................. 18 TABLE 5. SUMMARY OF MAIN FEATURES OF TREADLE PUMPS……………………………………………..26 TABLE 6. SUMMARY OF MAIN FEATURES OF MOTORIZED PUMPS………………………………………….28 TABLE 7. SUMMARY OF MAIN FEATURES OF BUCKET AND DRUM DRIP IRRIGATION KITS……………33 TABLE 8. ESTIMATED COSTS FOR A REMOTE SITE, ONE GROWING SEASON (800 PLANTS) .............................. 35 TABLE 9. SUMMARY OF MAIN FEATURES OF CLAY POT (PITCHER) IRRIGATION………………………..37 TABLE 10. SUMMARY OF MAIN FEATURES OF 'CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE'………………………...42 TABLE 11. SUMMARY OF MAIN FEATURES OF EX-SITU WATER HARVESTING AND STORAGE………...48 TABLE 12. UNIT COSTS OF SOME SMALLHOLDER WATER LIFTING TECHNOLOGIES......................................... 50 TABLE 13. PRICE STRUCTURE FOR TREADLE PUMPS IN SELECTED COUNTRIES (US$).................................... 50 TABLE 14. AVERAGE COST OF DISSEMINATING TREADLE PUMPS IN MALAWI, 2005 ...................................... 51 TABLE 15. UNIT COSTS OF AGRICULTURAL WATER APPLICATION TECHNOLOGIES......................................... 52 TABLE 16. UNIT COSTS OF SELECTED INDIGENOUS SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES.......... 53 TABLE 17. UNIT COSTS OF SELECTED SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES IN TANZANIA, KENYA AND SOUTH AFRICA ................................................................................................................ 54 TABLE 18. RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS FOR CONSERVATION TECHNOLOGIES ................................................ 55 TABLE 19. UNIT COSTS OF SELECTED RWH, STORAGE AND DIVERSION SYSTEMS ......................................... 56 TABLE 20. UNIT COST OF SOME SMALL SCALE IRRIGATION SYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA......................... 57 TABLE 21. TYPICAL COSTS FOR SOME RAINWATER HARVESTING TECHNOLOGIES.......................................... 58 TABLE 22. COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS