Assessing performance of small-scale pumped irrigation systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from a systematic review

Small-scale irrigation (SSI) has significant potential to increase crop productivity in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Pumped irrigation systems are one of the technologies increasingly being used by smallholder farmers. The aim of this study was to systematically review evidence on the performance of SSI pumped systems, including motorized, treadle, rope and washer, solar and wind pumps. The study revealed a lack of standardization and use of a wide range of indicators to assess performance. Most evidence related to motorized pumps, these studies confirmed mixed levels of performance; studies relating to other types of pumped system mostly reported a positive impact, although the method of assessment used was critical. Studies reporting positive impacts tended to be those that used socio-economic based factors such as yield and profitability, whereas studies reporting mixed performance tended to be those that relied more on technically based indicators such as pumping and irrigation system efficiency. The analysis highlights the sensitivity of interpreting findings from different studies, and how caution should be exercised when comparing performance within and between different types of irrigation system. The implications for supporting policy development and identifying future research gaps are discussed

The role of men in achieving women’s economic empowerment in Butiama district, Mara region Tanzania

Despite various efforts by Government and NGO’s in empowering women, they continued to live in poor condition and dependent on men. The study was carried in Butiama district to examine the role of men in women economic empowerment. More specifically the study aimed at examining men’s attitude and support to women economic empowerment. Equally the study focused on assessing the levels of women economic empowerment with regard to women economic decision making, control of savings, income and loans, as well as ownership of assets including land. Lastly the study intended to find out factors affecting men’s participation in the process of women economic empowerment. A cross-sectional design was employed in data collection. A structured questionnaire administered to 120 married women with their spouse and a checklist of questions administered to focus group discussants and key informants were tools for data collection. Descriptive and inferential analysis was used to analyze data. The findings indicate that men provide startup capital to their spouse, they participate in economic activities and they also take care of the family when their wives are away. Men play very minimal role in WEE. Furthermore, CEI indicated that more than half of women in the study area attained medium level of empowerment. Additionally the findings revealed that women had power to control their savings, income, loans and other resources, while men control land and other production resources. Moreover, majority of men had negative attitude towards WEE and were in line with the statement that women engagement in economic activities is a wastage of time. WEE has no contribution to household income. Ordinal logistic regression model revealed that there was a significant relationship between men’s attitude and Women Economic Empowerment at p<0.001 indicating high significant. The Multiple Regression model was used to analyze factors responsible for influencing men’s participation in WEE. The study found that age of men, negative attitude of men, low support in food and men traditional belief were important predictors of men’s participation in WEE. Statistically the variables were significant at (p<0.05, p<0.001 and p<0.001) showing high contributions to the model. The study recommends gender mainstreaming and men inclusion in women economic empowerment programs, through awareness creation of gender roles and intra-household relationship.Husband Mkama Thomas Manyam

Engaging men in women’s economic empowerment in Butiama district, Mara Region, Tanzania

Handbook of Research on Women’s Issues and Rights in the Developing World, 2018, Chapter 15The chapter addresses women’s income poverty using men as active participants in empowering women economically. Butiama district was used as a study area, using 120 women and their husbands who were beneficiaries of the programme dealing with loan provision. As an outcome of the study, men had little participation in women’s economic activities, hence, women’s economic empowerment was at medium level. Unlike men, women’s income was used for fulfilling basic needs of the family, therefore, had little impact on their economic empowerment. By conclusion, men as decision makers have high impact on women’s economic empowerment. It is recommended that, awareness creation among men would enhance their participation in empowering women. Improvement of women’s access to and control over production resources would improve their income. It is recommended that lobbying and advocacy approaches should be applied to enable women’s control over the production resources