October 5, Washington, D.C.: The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced a five-year extension of the Innovation Laboratory for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI), which will continue critical research from IFPRI and partners on improving small scale irrigation in the developing world.
ILSSI is currently conducting small scale irrigation research in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Ghana. Research is conducted to evaluate small scale irrigation (SSI) strategies in farmer’s fields; household surveys are conducted in the areas surrounding field studies to evaluate economic, nutrition and gender related impacts of SSI and an integrated decision support system (IDSS) is used to assess the production, environmental and economic consequences of SSI farming systems. Results of field studies are extrapolated to national levels and used to plan and evaluate regional and national introduction of SSI schemes. With the extension, ILSSI is considering expanding the agreement to other countries in Africa and Asia.
ILSSI is a partnership under USAID’s Feed the Future program led by Texas A&M University’s Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and includes the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the International Water Management Institute, and the International Livestock Research Institute. Multiple universities and other institutions in developing countries have also been part of the partnership.
Neville Clarke, Director of ILSSI, explained that smallholder farm families in the countries where ILSSI works typically grow grain crops in the rainy season and store them to be consumed in the dry season. The introduction of irrigation is providing year-round access to fresh vegetables and fruit for farm families and local markets. Irrigation is improving access to food, improving the diversity of diets for participating farm families as well as increasing income. New methods of water lifting, such as solar powered pumps, are increasing the availability of water for irrigation and reducing labor costs, especially for women.
For irrigation to be successful, adequate quantities and qualities of other agricultural inputs also need to be available and much emphasis is put on capacity building to assure optimal income and environmental sustainability. Water management practices developed in these studies are helping to assure efficient and sustainable use of this limited resource. Results from these studies are being used by government planners to initiate new irrigation practices where water resources can be sustainably used.
The extension of the first phase of this program involves continuing the engagement with national governments and private sector stakeholders to translate and extend research results to practice. The overall goal of research such as this is to contribute to transforming subsistence farmers who feed their families with what they grow into small businesses with a stable and sustainable income that enhances and improves their quality of life. This research also provides the ability of small farmers to better withstand unpredictable shocks resulting from drought and other natural or market adversities.
As the IFPRI lead on ILSSI, Claudia Ringler notes how the project has, for the first time, established a framework and insights on the intrahousehold distribution of the benefits of technology adoption, such as small-scale irrigation technologies. The project has also been at the forefront of developing and analyzing the pathways between irrigation and nutrition.
Dr. Clarke further noted that the ILSSI’s studies in Africa seek the best combination of production, environmental and economic consequences of new irrigation practices.
In its second phase, research will further understand opportunities for upscaling, develop new insights on governance options of groundwater resources, and increase partnerships with private sector actors.