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Research into Use Project: Partners Planning Workshop and Field Visit

Meeting Venue: Bolgatanga Premier Lodge

Meeting Date: 11-13th November, 2012

Members/Partners Present:Name Organization Contact (Email/Phone Number)Pamela Katic IWMI p.katic@cgiar.orgAnna A. Minkah IDE aminkah@ideghana.orgMargaret m Akuriba UDS akumerg@yahoo.comJoseph Awuni UDS josephawunigh@yahoo.co.ukFred Kizito IWMI f.kizito@cgiar.orgAbsent with excuseRegassa Namara IWMI r.namara@cgiar.orgBob Nanes IDE bnanes@ideorg.orgSaa Dittoh UDS saaditt@gmail.com

Meeting Agenda:1. Brief members introduction2. Recap on Inception Workshop minutes3. Round-the-table input on Partners contribution for proposed outputs: UDS and IDE4. Discussion on Biophysical and Socio-economic indicators of successful smallholder irrigation5. Report Framework6. AOB and Conclusion

These are only draft notes and can be revised in case I have misrepresented or wrongly captured what had been said during the meeting.

Recap on Inception Workshop:- Pamela noted that Meeting minutes were present and would be shared with the members- It was also noted that the inception meeting had various groups of partners present:

National entities, NGOS, Universities, Farmer groups- The PowerPoint presentations for the Inception workshop are also available and will be

shared among partners

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Round-the-table input on Partners contribution for proposed outputs: UDS- Working on market access - Currently building a questionnaire that looks at the entire value chain from the production

level to the end-user markets while factoring in target research areas and looking at other sites as well; an aspect that will complement the scaling up efforts.

- Crop diversification options are also being explored; currently the main crops on the market include tomatoes but the problem of perishability and gloat hinder this valuable commodity

- Other crop options include: Onions and pepper but pepper needs serious re-consideration as it is a heavy feeder. Farmers expend resources on supplementing both organic and inorganic amendments for good yields.

- Possibility of exploring further on how fresh maize can be a diversification option during the dry season.

- Consideration of farmer choices plays a critical role in the outcome of whether they will embrace smallholder irrigation or not. Therefore, the aspect of alternative livelihood options needs to be factored into our work. Farmers normally make choices based on profitability of a given venture:

o If a venture requires less investments and is profitable, they are likely to take it up o If there are other lucrative avenues more profitable than farming, then farmers are

most likely going to embrace those. This is applicable for cases where fishing or mining activities are predominant in a given area such as Bawku West and Talensi Nambdam

- We were informed that there is an on-going research study being conducted by Paul Pavelic related to shallow ground water exploitation in the Volta Basin, this work is in progress (need clarification on this issue).

Round-the-table input on Partners contribution for proposed outputs: IDE Participants were briefed on IDE activities mainly on the nature of irrigation technologies available in the field and on the market.

The discussion included the comparison between the fixed wooden treadle pump and the portable one with a metal frame. Below is a representation of the two types of pumps as captured from IDE partner Ann Minkah.

Wooden permanent Metallic portableRelatively cheaper More expensive in the short term; major cost

is cost of cylindersEvery season, you need to change the frame and dry wood

Does not require frame change, only routine maintenance;

Permanent and has little flexibility More convenient and durablePerform maintenance of pump and washers; Take good care of parts, bucket washers and

avoid pumping in very muddy watersEnsure that you have a tight fit of the stoppers within the cylinder to avoid efficiency losses

Can last for more than 5 years

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Wooden permanent Metallic portableTreadles are normally sturdy though they need replacement each season

Treadles are subject to bending depending on the nature of metal used; also the bucket washers do not perform optimally if the cylinders are too wide and currently the cylinders are slightly tighter

IDE has installers in the community that can take a fee for routine maintenance. However, the challenge was that because installers are well known in the community, they do not receive remuneration for their services

- IDE has now resorted to swapping the installers among the communities; people are more inclined to pay for services to someone they do not know than to someone they know.

- There are some reasons why people may not use the treadle pump: Treadle pumps do not have a distribution system, if the treadle is located in the middle of the plot with a slope, then the lower half of the garden will have water delivered by gravity while the upper portion will be by bucket

- If treadle pumps could be coupled with a water distribution system then this will reduce the labour drudgery

- IDE is also testing alternative energy sourceso Submersible pumpso Solar pumpso Centrifugal surface pumpso AC powered electric pumpso Conducted a survey on petrol engine pumps; there are interesting emerging results

on the market origins, cost and durability of these pumps i.e. Chinese pumps from Accra, Kumasi vs those from Sankassi in Togo

o Kick start pump; testing it on flow measurements and how it performs compared to the pressure treadle pump. Preliminary results indicate that this pumps flow rate is slightly higher than the pressure pump by 0.2 liters/sec

- IDE has been exploring micro-finance options o Previous experience with Erklof yielded mixed results in that some farmers were not

paying back either due to spending the loan on other business initiatives not necessarily related to irrigation or sometimes disbursement of loans and timing does not match with the cropping season

o Currently, IDE has an arrangement with a rural bank that provided micro-finance assistance. This has training for trust where confidence and trust groups are formed among farmers. Farmers could divide themselves into 5 trust groups then each trust group appoints a leader, these 5 leaders then form a confidence group and act on behalf of the trust groups on activities such as liaison with the bank, distribution of money, collection of loan payments, distribution of inputs, produce and sales

o The formation of trust and confidence groups seems to be yielding good results

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Discussion on Biophysical and Socio-economic indicators of successful smallholder irrigation

- Partners brainstormed on the parameters that need to be considered if successful smallholder irrigation is to be scaled up for portions of the White Volta Basin. A common agreement was that it will require a unique combination of biophysical and socio-economic conditions for smallholder irrigation to achieve optimal performance and crop productivity. This was labelled “unique” because the applicability of each situation varies on a case by case basis yet these factors do not work in isolation but in combination with other factors under an enabling environment.

- Workshop participants identified 14 parameters (shown in Table 1 below) pertinent to successful small-scale irrigation and wrote brief narratives about each parameter. These narratives form part of the Report on Biophysical and Socio-economic conditions conducive for shallow ground water irrigation. The draft Report will be circulated to partners for their comments and input.

Table 1: Biophysical and socio-economic conditions favourable for shallow ground water irrigation

Rank Weight Factor Parameter % Weight Algorithm Categories % Designation1 14 Presence/Proximity to Water Sources 13.33 100 Very good 80-100 A2 13 Alternative Livehood Options 12.38 Good 60-80 B3 12 Soil Characteristics (Suitability for drilling/Ag potential) 11.43 Moderate 50-60 C4 11 Land Tenure and Water Rights 10.48 Low 30-50 D5 10 Livestock density (In relation to fencingand crop threats) 9.52 Very low 0.1-29 E6 9 Attitude/Perception to dry season farming with irrigation 8.577 8 Slope/Topography 7.628 7 Aridity Index 6.679 6 Market access and conducive prices 5.71

10 5 Choice of small scale irrigation technology options 4.76 Baseline additive11 4 Support services 3.81 10512 3 Microfinance potential 2.8613 2 Population density 1.9014 1 Cropping density 0.95

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Report Framework

Socio-economic and biophysical characteristics favourable for smallholder groundwater irrigation in the White Volta Basin

1. Executive Summary2. Introduction3. Study site characteristics4. Activities conducted

a. Inception workshopb. Field visitsc. Desk reviewsd. Follow-up workshop

5. Methodsa. Identification of parameters/factors favourable for shallow groundwater irrigation

and rationale for choiceb. Parameter ranking and weighting procedures followedc. Data sources

i. GIS Spatial layersii. Primary data from field surveys and questionnaires

iii. Secondary data from existent reportsd. Mapping of identify areas with potential for scalable small scale irrigation

6. Results and Discussion7. Conclusions and Recommendations8. References9. Appendices (if any)

Field Trip to Nyangwa close to NavrongoThe field trip involved plot excursions of two farmers’ fields in Nyangwa near Navrongo.

At the field site:

- Farmers demonstrated their daily pumping practice with the conventional wooden treadle pump

- IDE staff demonstrated how the prototype version from the USA functions- Explanation was provided on the associated maintenance requirements for the treadle

pumps- Demonstration on use of both treadle pump and rope and bucket were also shown

considering that the position of the treadle pump is sometimes midway the farmers field with the lower portion receiving water from the pump by gravity and the upper portion receiving water by bucket

- Pictures of the field trip have been posted at: