Supporting Farmer-Led Irrigation in Mozambique: Reflections on Field-Testing a New Design Approach
Supporting Farmer-Led Irrigation in Mozambique: Reflections on Field-Testing a New Design Approach
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支持莫桑比克农民主导的灌溉：对新设计方法现场测试的思考
DOI：
10.3390/su8060580
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
G. Veldwisch
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
W. Beekman;G. Veldwisch
撒哈拉以南非洲采用的小农灌溉技术往往是不可持续的，因为这些技术没有得到用户的维护。相反，有明确证据表明，小农一直在开发和扩大灌溉面积。开发了一种方法，以这些农民的主动行动为出发点，刺激莫桑比克中部灌溉农业的进一步扩大，称为PIAD方法（灌溉农业发展）。通过实地日记、参与性监测和评价记录了这一做法。本文对设计过程进行了分析和反思。除其他外，它表明，一个关键的区别是用户，承包商和灌溉工程师之间的角色分工，无论是在责任分工和理解灌溉农业生产的跨学科联系。这一方法使用户能够继续掌握发展的主导权，同时超越改善灌溉基础设施，包括农艺和体制干预。此外，研究结果表明，这些技术正在被其用户所持续，并被邻近地区的农民所复制。我们的结论是，这种方法允许用户在设计以及项目成本和劳动力方面进行积极投资，这将导致改进得到维护和复制，这是可持续性的一个明显标志。
Smallholder irrigation technologies introduced in sub-Saharan Africa are often unsustainable in the sense that they are not maintained by their users. In contrast, there is clear evidence that smallholder farmers have been developing and expanding irrigated areas. An approach was developed that takes these farmers’ initiatives as a starting point to stimulate further irrigated agricultural expansion in central Mozambique, dubbed the PIAD approach (Participatory Irrigated Agricultural Development). The approach was documented through field diaries, participatory monitoring and evaluation. This article presents an analysis and reflection on the design process. Amongst other things, it shows that a crucial difference is the division of roles between users, contractors and irrigation engineers, both in terms of division of responsibilities and in understanding the interdisciplinary connections of irrigated agricultural production. The approach allowed users to be kept in the driver’s seat of development while going beyond improving irrigation infrastructure, including agronomic and institutional interventions. Additionally, the results show that technologies are being sustained by their users and copied by farmers in neighboring areas. We conclude that the approach allows for active investment by the users, both in design as well as in project costs and labor, which later results in the improvements being maintained and copied, a clear marker of sustainability.