Home

Local community empowerment through sustainable resource use and agricultural value-chain development in the Limpopo basin

  • Partners: ISPG (lead), NUST. IHE
  • Donor: Stichting IHE Delft
  • Donor Programme: DGIS - UNESCO-IHE Programmatic Coorperation II
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa

This project was selected under the South South Call of the DUPC2 programme and is led by Sérgio Ponguane from Faculty of Economics and Management, Higher Polytechnic Institute of Gaza (ISPG), Mozambique. The top-up activity is led by Cesário Manuel Cambaza from the Agriculture Faculty, Agriculture Hydraulics and Rural Water Supply Engineering, Instituto Superior Politécnico de Gaza (ISPG), Mozambique. This is a 2 years collaboration project, partnering ISPG (lead), NUST/Dabane Trust, IHE and ACACIA Water. The project is targeting its research on irrigation management and agro-economic practices, to contribute to the empowerment of women and youth to participate in the local socio-economic development and enhance food security. In doing this, it is expected to contribute to more inclusive and resilient livelihoods based on individual irrigated farming through increased understanding of the dynamic role, challenges and opportunities for men, women, poor and youth in individual irrigated farming, from a socio-technical perspective. Moreover, the project expects to contribute to strengthened institutional setting for enabling inclusive irrigation development through an increased understanding of the current and desired institutional practices to enhance inclusivity in individual farming practices. The projects main activities consist of research and co-development with farming communities, with special focus on women and youth, in matters of land and water management (irrigation technologies, water supply and soil management), food production and accessing markets. The activities to be carried out include: Area 1: i. Characterization of differentiated farmers - Mapping of farmers (women, men and youth) along the Limpopo river basin abstracting water from alluvial aquifers; - Identification of the agricultural practices and socioeconomic characteristics of smallholder farmers (including women); - Identification of challenges related to the use of small-scale water abstraction and irrigation use, and marketing for men, women and youth. ii. Co-developing adaptations for sustainable use of alluvial aquifers: - In line with the outcomes of phase I: adjustments to the design or use of abstraction and irrigation equipment, agronomic practices, financial arrangements, crop choice and marketing strategies. - Test different strategies and packages including the respective advantages/disadvantages. Area 2: iii. Implementation of learning and dissemination pathways: - Adjustments to curricula ISPG and NUST in line with project outcomes; - Developing a strategy to upgrade extension services of SDAEs; - Organize training seminars for the target groups and research team. The objective of this project is: To contribute to more inclusive and resilient livelihoods based on individual irrigated farming through increased understanding of the dynamic role, challenges and opportunities for men, women, poor and youth in individual irrigated farming, from a socio-technical perspective. Aimed at upscaling tested concepts developed for productive water use; and to contribute to strengthened institutional setting for enabling inclusive irrigation development through an increased understanding of the current and desired institutional practices to enhance inclusivity in individual farming practices. Recently the project received a top-up for documentation of all good practices and innovation findings, that allow the empowerment of women for socio-economic development in the rural communities, within the Limpopo Basin in Mozambique. They do this by making videos and audios (interviews) with farmers, in which they show their operation. They will also develop flyers, didactic material and documentaries to be shared and disseminated in the local community, government institutions and international events. This project is strongly linked to the A4Labs project: Arid African Alluvial Aquifers Laboratories (https://a4labs.un-ihe.org/).

Share

Connect with us

Never miss a thing!