Ramson Adombilla, an irrigation engineer from the CSIR-Savanna Agricultural Research Institute, Ghana, talks about how he sees farmer-led irrigation development and whether something as simple as a watering can may be classed as farmer-led irrigation development.
Video transcript:
Farmer-led irrigation development – it falls within the domain of the initiator – so the farmer leads the development of the scheme and also any improvements. So basically because of handicaps in our resources, farmers normally practise the traditional surface irrigation methods and of course a watering can is also a surface method – though it is traditionally nature [via rainfall] but its efficiency is high when you compare it to other practices.
So basically what farmers do is they look at the availability of local materials (and I think a watering can is very available to farmers in all regions of Africa) so basically that is always the first door to call at for farmers’ irrigation.
Of course you have other sources of practising, such as the furrows systems of irrigation, but I think what defines farmer-led irrigation development – it is the person who initiates the process – in this case it is the farmer and not any other person.