Abstract
AbstractBoosting the productivity of smallholder farming systems continues to be a major need in Africa. Challenges relating to how to improve irrigation are multi‐factor and multisectoral, and they involve a broad range of actors who must interact to reach decisions collectively. We provide a systematic reflection on findings from the research project EAU4Food, which adopted a transdisciplinary approach to irrigation for food security research in five case studies in Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tunisia. The EAU4Food experiences emphasize that actual innovation at irrigated smallholder farm level remains limited without sufficient improvement of the enabling environment and taking note of the wider political economy environment. Most project partners felt at the end of the project that the transdisciplinary approach has indeed enriched the research process by providing different and multiple insights from actors outside the academic field. Local capacity to facilitate transdisciplinary research and engagement with practitioners was developed and could support the continuation and scaling up of the approach. Future projects may benefit from a longer time frame to allow for deeper exchange of lessons learned among different stakeholders and a dedicated effort to analyse possible improvements of the enabling environment from the beginning of the research process. © 2020 The Authors. Irrigation and Drainage published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Commission for Irrigation and Drainage
Highlights
Food insecurity in Africa is a major concern that is expected to worsen because of population growth and climate change
We provide a systematic reflection on findings from the research project EAU4Food, which adopted a transdisciplinary approach to irrigation for food security research in five case studies in Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and
In many African countries, the population size will double by 2050 and it is expected that the continent will reach 2.5 billion inhabitants by 2050.1 Most of the population growth will be in the poorest countries of the sub-Saharan region that have been the hardest hit by hunger and malnutrition
Summary
JOCHEN FROEBRICH1*, EVA LUDI2, SAMI BOUARFA3,4, DOMINIQUE ROLLIN3,4, NEBO JOVANOVIC5, MARIA ROBLE6, TAREK AJMI7, RAMI ALBASHA3,4 , SÉKOU BAH8, HAITHEM BAHRI7, GONZALO BARBERÁ9, CHRISTY VAN BEEK10, BRUNO CHEVIRON3,4, BENSON CHISHALA11, WILLEM DE CLERCQ12, YACOUBA COULIBALY8, MOHAMMED DICKO13, BANDIOUGOU DIAWARA13, ALEKSANDRA DOLINSKA14,15, RAPHAËLLE DUCROT16,4, TEKLU ERKOSSA17, SEBASTIAO FAMBA18, DEGOL FISSAHAYE19, ANGEL DE MIGUEL GARCIA1, SOLOMON HABTU19, SALIA HANAFI7, JULIA HARPER20, HANNEKE HEESMANS1, JEAN-YVES JAMIN16,4, KEES VAN’T KLOOSTER1, NATHANIEL MASON2, JEAN-CLAUDE MAILHOL3,4, SERGE MARLET16,4, INSAF MEKKI7, CONSTANSIA MUSVOTO5, BEATRICE MOSELLO21, ALICE MWEETWA11, NAOMI OATES22, ELIJAH PHIRI11, LUDIVINE PRADELEIX3,4 , ERIK QUERNER1, ANDREI ROZANOV20, PHILIPPE KER RAULT23, JEAN-EMMANUEL ROUGIER14, CHIZUMBA SHEPANDE11, MAITE SÁNCHEZ REPARAZ24, BRÉHIMA TANGARA13, JORIS DE VENTE9, MARLENE DE WITT12, CAI XUELIANG25,26 AND ABDELAZIZ ZAIRI7.
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