Center pivot and linear move irrigation systems’ design and operation are primarily limited by soil infiltration rates. Boom systems have been suggested to improve infiltration and decrease runoff by reducing the instantaneous water application rate of center pivots and linear move systems. In this research project, we compared runoff from plots ir...
The Ethiopian economy depends heavily on smallholder agriculture, and this sector directly affects the country’s economic development, food security and poverty alleviation efforts. The adoption of smallholder irrigation technologies as a means to tackle these challenges has become an important policy issue in the development agenda of the country....
Based on a case study in Ethiopia, this paper shows that while farmers understand the social nature of community-managed irrigation, they share a narrow understanding of pump irrigation with policymakers as being primarily ‘technical’. They perceive pumps as liberating them from the ‘social’ limitations of traditional communal irrigation. However, ...
In Jorgensen, S. E. (Ed.). Encyclopedia of environmental management. Vol 4. Boca Raton, FL, USA: CRC Press / Under conditions of increasing water scarcity and water quality deterioration, farmers have often little alternative to the use of raw or diluted wastewater to irrigate a range of crops. Aside from the agronomic benefits of resource recovery...
As part of their irrigation strategy, the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Malawi are actively promoting the use of treadle pumps in smallholder irrigation. The positive impact of treadle pumps on food security and poverty reduction in Malawi and elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa is well documented. However, few studies have an...
Irrigation using untreated wastewater poses health risks to farmers and consumers of crop products, especially vegetables. With hardly any wastewater treatment in Ghana, a multiple-barrier approach was adopted and safe re-use practices were developed through action research involving a number of stakeholders at different levels along the food chain...
