Using the right technology to harvest rainwater, farmers in Otuke, Uganda realized that they could grow vegetables—an idea that had seemed so impossible before that champion farmers faced ridicule for doing it. Not only could they grow vegetables, but they could earn their investment back in as little as 3 days!
This evidence was enough to convince the government of Uganda to re-purpose an 8 million Euro grant to invest in more water-smart options, as well as changed their national irrigation policies to encourage sustainable water use.
The Global Water Initiative-East Africa worked in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Uganda from 2007 to 2015 with the support of the Howard G. Buffet Foundation. Besides changing on-farm practices, the project focused on getting farmer voices into policy conversations and using evidence to create more water-smart policies.
What did we accomplish?
- More than double production: Using rainwater harvesting, champion farmers in the experiments saw yields go from 1,340 to 3,079 kg/acre.
- More than double income: In Uganda, farmer’s income went from $375 to $862. In Ethiopia, income went from $524 to $1,168. Families with women in charge saw the greatest gains—a 414% increase in Ethiopia.
- Changed laws: In Ethiopia and Uganda, national governments changed their irrigation policies to include more sustainable water use through moisture retention and rainwater harvesting—techniques they had never promoted before.
- Reallocated government budgets: In Tanzania, the local government allocated $12,500 for further testing with champion farmers. Ethiopia spent $65,000 to implement more water-smart technologies.
How did we get there?
- Build evidence for advocacy: The project was able to demonstrate that technologies worked—repaying farmers’ investment in 3 days to 6 months with crop sales. That’s the information they brought to governments to encourage policy change.
- Get buy-in on research: GWI built Learning and Practice Alliances and Research Oversight Committees as a way to bring government, smallholder, NGO, and academic partners together around the questions and research. So by the time the research came out, these partners felt ownership of and faith in the results.
- Put farmers in charge: The evidence came from champion farmers who field tested approaches to show that they worked on the field and in that context. They used that information to work with governments and convince their neighbors to adopt new trials.
- Give a range of options: In Uganda, there was a range of water technologies that farmers could adopt. Ranging from a $4 investment to a $1,100, these gave all farmers options to invest that were possible for them.
- Create practical tools: The project developed the Water Smart Agriculture Sourcebook, which reached more than 2,000 practitioners in the first 2 months. The field-based guidance is useful for spreading practices throughout projects.
Want to learn more?
Check out the project's Water Smart Agriculture Sourcebook. The website has lots of publications and beautiful photos, so check out what they’ve done.