Identifying Appropriate Irrigation Technologies for Horticulture for Women and Smallholder Farmers in Eastern Uganda.

Dry season vegetable production has been identified as a high priority in the largely rainfed (>97%) agricultural systems of Uganda. Off-season vegetable supplies are currently inadequate to meet human nutritional needs. As rainfall patterns become increasingly unpredictable and rapid population expansion places more pressure on food systems, demand for vegetables will further outstrip supplies. This project convenes stakeholders from public and private sectors to develop innovations in small scale dry season vegetable production for women farmers in East Africa. We are using a participatory approach to research, design and implement dry season vegetable production and marketing schemes with an aim to build local capacity for irrigation and water management among the partners; farmers to the public and private sector.

The project is working at 6 ‘sites' throughout Eastern Uganda with a multi-disciplinary research team. , Our partners are collaborating to co-develop technologies that will impact horticultural production, particularly by smallholder women farmers who are often excluded from such programs. Innovations build on existing farmer knowledge as a foundation and combine novel ways that are proving to be appropriate for small scale horticulture in the region selected by the farmers. Initial focus groups revealed that some concerns of women farmers were unique and needed to be considered in designing irrigation strategies and training. A gender sensitive framework is being developed for local public and private sector organisations to develop and disseminate small scale irrigation systems. We are assessing agronomic and economic impacts and moving to further opportunities and education in marketing, nutrition, and assessing gender impacts of different innovations and developing scale-out options for the most promising technologies. Development of a co-innovation systematic approach for assessing and supporting innovations in dry season vegetable production will strengthen small scale farmer enterprises targeted to both local markets and family consumption.