Endogenous irrigation in arid Zimbabwe: farmer perceptions of livelihood benefits and barriers to scaling

Authors

  • Moline Chauruka Department of Irrigation Development, Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Harare, Zimbabwe
  • Annelieke Duker Land and Water Management Department, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
  • Pooja Prasad Land and Water Management Department, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands
  • Pieter Van der Zaag 1. Land and Water Management Department, IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, Delft, The Netherlands; 2. Water Management Department, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/wsa/2023.v49.i4.4031

Keywords:

bucket irrigation, sand river aquifer, ephemeral river, scaling, smallholder farmer

Abstract

In Zimbabwe, farmer-led irrigation is far more widespread than planners and policy makers realise. Along the Shashani sand river, in the arid to semi-arid lands of south-western Zimbabwe, diverse farmer-initiated irrigation ventures exist. This qualitative case study focuses on bucket irrigation, in which very small vegetable fields of up to 450 m2 are fenced by tree branches, and irrigated with water from scoop holes in sandy river beds. Farmers initiate and operate their fields with no external assistance. This study presents the benefits of bucket irrigation as an often-overlooked form of farmer-led irrigation development. Through this qualitative and strongly observational study, 26 bucket irrigation farmers and 4 non-irrigators were interviewed using semi-structured interviews where farmers’ perceptions and experiences were captured. We investigate what drives and sustains bucket irrigation, its significance to rural livelihoods under harsh economic and climatic conditions, and the barriers towards scaling this type of farmer-led irrigation development. The results show that drivers for bucket irrigation stem from economic hardship and are gendered. Women are motivated to irrigate mainly by the need to produce vegetables for household consumption, whereas men pursue irrigation due to a lack of employment. Bucket irrigators experience enhanced food security, and have more secure income, contributing to improved wellbeing. Furthermore, despite the desire to scale, the farm size is mainly constrained by fencing and energy for transporting water, which is a result of a persistent lack of financial capital to invest in irrigation technologies. We conclude that bucket irrigation acts as an important livelihood strategy, and that it significantly enhances farmers’ resilience to economic and climatic shocks.  Bucket irrigation should not be overlooked in policies that advocate scaling of irrigation. Bucket irrigators have the potential to expand and benefit significantly if supported with innovative financial mechanisms that enable investments in the required technology and knowledge.

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Published

2023-10-27

Issue

Vol. 49 No. 4 October (2023): Water SA

Section

Research paper

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Moline Chauruka, Annelieke Duker, Pooja Prasad, Pieter Van der Zaag

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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The content of this journal is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.  Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal under the terms of this Licence, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author, provided the source is attributed. Copyright is retained by the authors.

How to Cite

Moline Chauruka (2023) “Endogenous irrigation in arid Zimbabwe: farmer perceptions of livelihood benefits and barriers to scaling”, Water SA, 49(4 October). doi:10.17159/wsa/2023.v49.i4.4031.