Crop Water Productivity Improvement

The majority of the population in the Volta basin is small-scale resource-poor farmers who rely mainly on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods. However, rainfall in this region is erratic, poorly distributed and very variable, which makes rain-fed agriculture a risky enterprise. Furthermore, the increasing population, livestock pressure and growing competition over the use of water for generating hydroelectricity and other uses are contributing to water becoming a scarce resource. Declining water quantity and quality, increasing soil degradation and inappropriate crop management methods limit agricultural productivity, making food security a major concern.

Improving water productivity requires that more value be obtained from every drop used for crops, trees and livestock while conserving the natural resource base. Though it is believed that an integrated approach to soil, water, crop and nutrient management is essential for increasing crop productivity and optimizing the use of inputs, there is a dearth of empirical studies on such interactions. In addition, rural populations are looking for alternative means of intensifying and diversifying their systems to meet their food needs as well as to increase their incomes. There is therefore a need to use a systems research which integrates germplasm, crop, soil, nutrient and water management, and empowers farmers and rural communities to exploit market opportunities to raise their incomes and invest in better management of their resources.

Yet, until recently, agricultural research has not been effective in responding to these challenges. A win-win situation can occur when a systems research integrates germplasm, crop, nutrient and water management, with explicit focus to empowering farmers and rural communities to take advantage of market opportunities to raise their incomes. There is an urgent need to develop and use such approaches and tools to develop, evaluate, adapt and scale up and out the improved technology options for enhanced water and nutrient use efficiencies.

The overall goal of this project is to reduce poverty and improve food security, income and livelihoods of small-scale resource poor farmers in the Volta Basin. Our overall research hypothesis is that using a systems approach that integrates water use efficiency, nutrient, soil and crop management, and improved germplasm together with market opportunity identification and rural agroenterprise development, and empowering rural communities will result in significant benefits to the rural poor and the environment, which can be scaled out to wider geographic areas.

The specific objectives are:

To develop, evaluate and adapt, in partnership with farmers, integrated technology options that improve water and nutrient use efficiency and increase crop yields in the Volta Basin.
To develop and validate methodologies, approaches and modem tools (GIS, models, farmer participatory approaches) for evaluating and promoting promising water, nutrient and crop management technology options.
To improve market opportunities for small holder farmers and pastoralists, identify and assess market institutional innovations that provide incentives for the adoption of improved water, nutrient and crop management technologies that benefit different categories of farmers, especially women and other marginalized groups of farmers.
To build the capacities of farmers and rural communities to make effective demands to research and development organizations, and influence policies that promote the adoption of sustainable water and nutrient use technologies.
To promote and scale up and out 'best bet' crop, water, and nutrient management strategies in the Volta Basin through more efficient information and methodology dissemination mechanisms.

The methodology of the project will draw on and apply principles and approaches of Integrated Natural Resources Management (INRM). The project will be implemented by a multi-institutional and multi-disciplinary team of research and development partners using a combination of scientific and participatory action research approaches to reach thousands of male and female farmers and rural poor in the pilot communities of the Volta Basin. These farmers will benefit from a range of integrated technologies that will contribute to increased land productivity, water use efficiency and incomes, while protecting the natural resource base. Successful technologies and approaches will be scaled out and disseminated to more farmers in wider geographic areas within the Volta basin, and beyond in the semi-arid zones of eastern and southern Africa through the Desert Margin Program, for example.

Enhancing rainwater and nutrient use efficiency for improved crop productivity, farm income and rural livelihoods in the Volta basin

Executive Summary