the projects will transform smallholder irrigation into profitable and self-sustaining systems in Southern Africa.
Iringa. The Circular Food Systems (CFS) project in Africa has been launched in Iringa Region after ten years of successful research projects in irrigation schemes in the region.
The research, which was also carried out in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, has also helped to increase irrigation productivity in the countries through farm monitoring, agricultural innovation platforms, and adaptive water management.
CFSs are food systems in which waste streams are minimised and inevitable waste is utilised in processes of production of food, energy, or non-food products.
The project was launched by Iringa Regional Commissioner, Ms Halima Dendego, on Tuesday this week.
The RC said the projects will transform smallholder irrigation into profitable and self-sustaining systems in Southern Africa.
"I have been informed that the success within these ten years of research in irrigation schemes in some areas of Iringa districts such as Kiwere, Magozi, Idodi, Nyamahana, Mafuruto, Tungamalenga, Lipuli, and Mlenge, as well as in the schemes of the project sister countries in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania, is measurable,” she said.
Dendego said the intervention of the project through the introduction of soil water and nutrients monitoring tools and the establishment of agricultural innovation platforms (AIPs), as well as participatory mapping of the irrigation schemes, has contributed to a number of benefits.
The benefits include reduced irrigation frequency by 39 percent and time that farmers spend on irrigation by 65 percent for irrigation schemes such as Kiwere.
This has led to saving irrigation water, reduced water use conflicts between farmers, effective use of chemical fertilisers, increased crop yields, and household incomes for more than 60 percent of the farmers.
Other benefits include increased farmer networking with input suppliers, buyers, and processors of produced crops, leading them to have better access to quality inputs and information about good farming practices.
Under the project, about 184 farmers and government officials underwent training and awareness-creation on simple soil, water, and nutrient monitoring. The officials include agricultural officers, agricultural extension officers, irrigation engineers at various levels, and NGOs.
"Agriculture, especially irrigation, plays a central role in poverty reduction, improves household incomes, and is adaptive to climate change impacts,” she elaborated.
The critical role of the sector is reflected in the government's political will and commitments, which saw the budget for irrigation increase by 777 percent from Sh46.5 billion in 2021/2022 to Sh361.5 billion in 2022/2023.
“Therefore, your research will contribute to providing solutions to the challenges that farmers, including women and youth, experience, leading to self-sustaining smallholder irrigation schemes.
The CFS project coordinator from Ardhi University, Dr Makarius Mdemu, said one of the major impacts of the project was to consolidate the benefits that have been attained in the last ten years of research, which include increased productivity and profitability.
Dr Mdemu said the impact of the research was the increase in production and income of farmers, which enabled them to improve their living conditions.
TISA and CFS project leader, Prof Jamie Pittock from the Fenner School of Environmental & Society at the Australian National University, said the aim of the inception meeting was to bring the new CFS team together, develop a common understanding of what they have promised to deliver, and clarify the activities, methods, roles, and responsibilities to deliver the project.
