PROJECTS
Before
setting up Aquademos Felicity Chancellor led a number of DFID
Knowledge and Research projects; a few are outlined briefly
below.
(click
on the title for more details)
Minor
Irrigation Research (DFID KaR Contract R 5830) 1987-1996
This project
began in the late 1980’s in Zimbabwe with an investigation into
the causes of under performance in smallholder irrigation schemes.
Initially the focus
was on physical infrastructure, it’s design and maintenance
and implications for water application in the fields. Very
quickly the study broadened to include the socio-economic parameters
that influence the farmer’s use of the scheme, and the costs
and constraints that applied to the use of water in the agricultural
businesses. In response to mounting concern about disappointing
results in the smallholder irrigation sectors throughout Africa,
by the early 1990’s the study broadened further, extending it’s
scope to cover many countries, a range of infrastructure, and
a variety of management structures.
The research
measured economic and physical performance in a total of 13
schemes spread over Egypt, Kenya and Zimbabwe The  schemes
included gravity flow and pumped systems using channels and
sprinklers and a variety of institutional arrangements from
self-help, farmer-managed to government run schemes.
The main
findings indicated that effective and reliable technology is
essential to sustainable irrigation, Among the main constraints
to achieving this ideal was centralisation of management, and
the resulting slow, expensive and ineffective nature of maintenance
and repair. Poor service discourages payment of dues and results
in a
spiral of neglect and deterioration. Other important constraints
included insecure land tenure arrangements, poor communication
and representation and ineffective input supplies and poor marketing
arrangements. A number of design features, both physical and
socio-economic, that should be avoided or incorporated into
projects to improve results, were identified
Recommendations
for taking smallholder irrigation projects forward from the
situation described were presented in a report entitled ‘Smallholder
Irrigation – Ways Forward’, which was published and
disseminated by HR Wallingford Ltd on behalf of DFID, as Report
No. OD 136 and is freely available on application. A link to
their web site can be found by clicking below. The first
volume discusses the main issues and suggests alternatives and
processes by which the best options might be identified. The
second volume presents case studies of the schemes studies and
provides useful data and comparative tables. Click
here for Part 1, and click
here for Part 2.
Women
in Irrigation (DFID KaR Contract R 6062) 1994 –1997
Following
on from the Minor irrigation project this project set out to
provide basic understanding about the role of Women in Irrigation
in Africa. Many women were  observed
in the smallholders’ irrigated fields but few in farmer committees
and fewer still among the professionals in developing country
irrigation services. The project surveyed smallholder schemes
in Kenya, Gambia and South Africa, taking in a range of policies,
project objectives and institutional arrangements. A number
of working papers and interim reports containing the case studies
led to the final recommendations for ‘Developing the Participation
and skills of women irrigators' published for DFID by
HR Wallingford Ltd. in 1997 as Report Number OD 135.
The findings
identified the lack of female skill and participation as a major
constraint to the sustained success of smallholder irrigation
in Africa. . It was  clear
that country specific parameters relating to land tenure, inheritance,
education, and socially determined gender roles play an important
part in addition to the formally stated agricultural and social
policies in force at the time. The research suggested that more
detailed research into the social and institutional constructs
relating to irrigation was needed.
Gender-sensitive
Irrigation Design, GSID (DFID KaR Contract R6876) 1998-2000
Lack of
skills was one of the issues identified in the Women and Irrigation
research
as a constraint on women's participation in irrigation. This
project delved into the actual use of smallholder irrigation
schemes the connections between design and suitability for use
by men and women and the day to day operation practised in a
wide range of schemes in Southern Africa.
The research
investigated how different design  of
smallholder irrigation schemes affected the way that the community
allocated tasks. It was clear that in many places the community
was not able to use the facility effectively because of mismatches
and conflicts between their objectives and practices and those
introduced by the system. In some cases irrigation projects
highlight already inequitable gender relations and in others
they exacerbated inequalities. Simple systems were often more
amenable to community management; higher technology, that often
depended on well developed communication and commercial linkages,
was difficult for both men and women with limited resources
but tended to have the effect of further marginalising women
from benefits.
The research
results are available as HR Wallingford Report OD 143 (Parts
1-6). Part 1 is a general summary and recommendations whilst
the remaining volumes provide details of country specific findings
and the problems of systems that rely on modern pumps.
An extension
of this project aimed to bring the findings to the attention
of farmers  for
whom the reports were inaccessible or inappropriate. The outputs
were a story booklet, 'Don't Get Lazy', set of
Posters, and a discussion guide. These outputs were designed
for use by a facilitator with groups of smallholder irrigators
including people with low literacy skills. The materials were
tested in South Africa and have been used in training agricultural
extension staff who have subsequently use the materials in the
field.
The set
of outputs is freely available from HR Wallingford and can be
accessed on their web site or by sending a request for the CD
version. The CD version offers versions in Xitonga and Shagaan.
Sustainable
Smallholder Irrigation Businesses SIBU (DFID KaR R 7810) 2000-2003
A major
problem for smallholder irrigators
is maintaining a reliable irrigation system that meets their
need to establish commercially viable businesses. To do this
nowadays they need to be able to make profits. Many smallholders
experience enormous difficulty in establishing reliable markets,
and successfully competing with larger businesses. In Southern
Africa there are a number of historic reasons why this aspect
of smallholder irrigation will continue to cause problems.
 Many
smallholder irrigation schemes are relatively old. They were
largely built and designed to be managed by government or an
agency of government and often had a resettlement objective.
The design was not created with commercial viability in mind
and largely provided for plotholders to provide, or simply supplement,
a subsistence livelihood. The governments of the day were willing
to subsidise capital costs, management and some of the running
costs. Times have changed and farmer, management and withdrawal
of government subsidy are concurrently encouraged. The smallholder
irrigator now faces new problems for which he/she is ill prepared
by earlier experiences and the low level of skills training
that has been available to to date.
Governments
are seeking guidance about the  solutions
to provide irrigators with the skills to get the best from existing
facilities. The institutional arrangements are a key issue and
deserve attention even before the more obvious commercial, hardware,
and engineering issues. The research report associated with
this project is freely available on application to HR Wallingford.
Report OD 149. 'Towards Sustainable Smallholder Irrigation
Businesses'
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