have access to surface water flows for irrigation or use
shallow, hand-dug wells constructed by family members. Technologies used by farmers include buckets;
watering cans; electric, diesel and treadle pumps; drip
systems and conservation agriculture techniques, such
as terracing and in-situ rainwater harvesting. Small,
motorized pumps have become more and more the
technology of choice, particularly as lighter-weight imported and local varieties have come on to the market.
The more energy- and cost-efficient electric pumps are
favoured, but these are unrealistic in many remote locations with irregular power supplies or limited connections to the electricity grid.
Being able to store water for the dry season increases
resilience and allows farmers to invest in their land and
diversify agricultural activities. Cultivating cash crops
during this time is profitable and provides smallholders
with much-needed money when other income sources
are scarce. Water can be stored in small and large reservoirs, on-farm ponds, shallow groundwater or wetlands.
Through effective agricultural engineering several small
scale technologies has been developed, build and tested. This include treadle pumps, bucket drip systems,
furrow design techniques (see figure 3) and circular
reservoirs for water storage. Various irrigation equipment have also being tested for their performance:
drippers, sprinklers, micro sprayers and filtration equipment. Training manuals on irrigation approaches, irrigation management and many others have been developed to assist farmers in improving their irrigation.
Summary
Water plays an important role in food security because
water gives life and is crucial to food production and
development. It is however essential that it is used
more efficiently and equitable and it is important to
focus on solving problems associated with securing a
sustainable food system by working together with various disciplines and using agricultural engineering and
modern technologies throughout the whole value
chain from farm to fork.
Figure 3: Design, layout and management of a Furrow irrigation system