Abstract
Increasing food production by developing small-scale irrigation schemes is a requirement for tackling household food insecurity. Strategies, such as the World Vision, Enhancing Nutrition, Stepping Up Resilience and Enterprise, have been established to enhance food availability in the drought-prone Burirano Ward 4, Chipinge, Zimbabwe, through the drip irrigation intervention. This study analysed the extent to which the drip intervention has increased food production, abilities, income and nutrition of households. Consequently, the key factors impacting the performance of the drip irrigation scheme were assessed. The study utilised a mixed-method convergent parallel design, drawing from semi-structured questionnaires administered on a census of 40 household beneficiaries as well as a focus group discussion of five key informants directly linked to the Chidzadza irrigation scheme, Burirano Ward 4, Chipinge, Zimbabwe. The findings show that the drip irrigation scheme significantly increased households’ food production abilities, nutrition and income. The main factors responsible for the success of the drip irrigation scheme are cheap labour from household members and agriculture extension support. Issues that prevent the success of the scheme include erratic rain supplies and damaged water pipes. Strategies to increase household food production through the drip irrigation scheme include maintenance of water pipes, an increase in water catchment areas and water availability through solar-powered borehole systems.
Highlights
About 842 million people in the world do not have enough to eat, which is attributable to acute poverty, whilst up to 2 billion people are food insecure
This study assessed the contribution of the small-scale drip irrigation scheme towards food production and nutritional outcomes in Burirano Ward 4, Chipinge, Zimbabwe
A mixed-method convergent parallel design was utilised, drawing from semi-structured questionnaires administered on a census of 40 household beneficiaries, and focus group discussion (FGD) of five key informants, directly linked to the irrigation scheme to explore three key questions
Summary
About 842 million people in the world do not have enough to eat, which is attributable to acute poverty, whilst up to 2 billion people are food insecure (reliefweb 2018). Zimbabwe experiences irregular rainfall patterns, ranging from the El Niño-induced consecutive severe droughts in 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 to the La Nina-induced above-normal rains and flooding in 2016/2017. This irregular rainfall renders it impossible for societies to adjust crop patterns in reaction to climate change, adversely impacting agricultural production and submerging communities into food insecurity and absolute poverty. Irrigation systems alleviate poverty by increasing production, income and nutrition This is because of surplus sales and crop diversification (Bjornlund, Van Rooyen & Stirzaker 2017; Passarelli et al 2018; Tefera & Cho 2017)
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