Innovative soil fertility management by stakeholder engagement in the Chókwè irrigation scheme (Mozambique)

International audienceAppropriate soil fertility management plays an important role in irrigated systems and can contribute to reducing the yield gap. To that end, abiotic, biotic, management and socio-economic factors need to be considered and participatory approaches need to be implemented to ensure the sustainability of the interventions. Our objective is to analyse a participatory process conducted in the Chókwè Irrigation Scheme (Mozambique) to trigger agronomic innovation in soil fertility management. Through a method combining interviews with 31 farmers, soil sampling and the organization of communities of practice we studied actual agrarian practices and farmers' knowledge about soil fertility management as well as the social and physical context. This information was the basis for selecting an association in order to promote the innovation process. A participatory planning of the innovation test was conducted. The whole process was evaluated by farmers. Adoption of the majority of the practices is limited mainly by factors related to the socio-economic status of farmers and not to the lack of knowledge. Farmers did not highly value the participatory process itself, but valued the learning-by-doing process and the collaboration with researchers. We consider that the approach increased collective learning and this process triggered the innovation dynamics

Innovative soil fertility management by stakeholder engagement in the Chókwè irrigation scheme (Mozambique)

International audienceAppropriate soil fertility management plays an important role in irrigated systems and can contribute to reducing the yield gap. To that end, abiotic, biotic, management and socio-economic factors need to be considered and participatory approaches need to be implemented to ensure the sustainability of the interventions. Our objective is to analyse a participatory process conducted in the Chókwè Irrigation Scheme (Mozambique) to trigger agronomic innovation in soil fertility management. Through a method combining interviews with 31 farmers, soil sampling and the organization of communities of practice we studied actual agrarian practices and farmers' knowledge about soil fertility management as well as the social and physical context. This information was the basis for selecting an association in order to promote the innovation process. A participatory planning of the innovation test was conducted. The whole process was evaluated by farmers. Adoption of the majority of the practices is limited mainly by factors related to the socio-economic status of farmers and not to the lack of knowledge. Farmers did not highly value the participatory process itself, but valued the learning-by-doing process and the collaboration with researchers. We consider that the approach increased collective learning and this process triggered the innovation dynamics

Transdisciplinary innovation in irrigated smallholder agriculture in Africa

Boosting the productivity of smallholder farming systems continues to be a major need in Africa. Challenges relating to how to improve irrigation are multi-factor and multisectora l, and they involve a broad range of actors who must interact to reach decisions collectively. We provide a systematic reflection on findings from the research project EAU4Food, which adopted a transdisciplinary approach to irrigation for food security research in five case studies in Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Africa and Tunisia. The EAU4Food experiences emphasize that actual innovation at irrigated smallholder farm level remains limited without sufficient improvement of the enabling environment and taking note of the wider political economy environment. Most project partners felt at the end of the project that the transdisciplinary approach has indeed enriched the research process by providing different and multiple insights from actors outside the academic field. Local capacity to facilitate transdisciplinary research and engag ement with practitio ners was developed and could support the continuation and scaling up of the approach. Future projects may benefit from a longer time frame to allow for deeper exchange of lessons learned among different stakeholders and a dedicated effort to analyse possible improvements of the enabling environment from the beginning of the research process