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WATER-SOUTHERN AFRICA: Research Not Trickling Down To Farmers

Vusumuzi Sifile

MAPUTO, Sep 3 2009 (IPS) - Farmers could be losing tonnes of crops every harvest just because no one has bothered to tell them that scientists have found more effective methods of using water to farm.

Isaiah Mharapara, chief executive officer of the Agricultural Research Council in Zimbabwe said much research has been conducted on water availability, distribution and use, but most of the findings have not been given to the farmers to use.

Mharapara told IPS: "There has also been some technology developed mostly for micro irrigation, and some for the conventional irrigation. There are figures and schedules that have been developed. A lot of (this) research is not being used by farmers. That is the information that needs to get to the farmers so that they can use these systems and (use) water efficiently."

The research, Mharapara noted, goes beyond the use of surface water, and also focuses on ground water and wetlands as well.

"There has also been technology developed on the use of wetlands in crop growing. This allows the farmer to use the wetlands safely and productively. We even developed a system that would allow farmers to produce maize, rice, beans vegetables on the same wetland."

Eight sites for wetland farming have already been identified across Zimbabwe, said Mharapara.

Cecilia Makota, a farmer in Zambia, accused policy makers of failing to respond to the needs of small-scale farmers. She said farmers had made a number of recommendations to the authorities on harnessing water from the many rivers and swamps in the country, but these had fallen on deaf ears.

"In Zambia, we have many rivers," she said. "We also have the Kariba dam and lots of ground water and swamps. The problem is that the policy makers do not listen to the needs of women for water. As rural women farmers, we need to be capacitated on how to utilise water."

Zambia shares the Zambezi River Basin with Zimbabwe, Botswana, Angola and Namibia. The country also has numerous other rivers which she believes are not effectively used.

Director of policy and research at the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), Wole Olaleye, said the researchers may not be looking at all aspects of water use that effect the lives of farmers. He noted that there could be other political and economic factors that play a role in the use of water resources.

"We need to look into whether there is space for us to do an analysis of water economics in southern Africa. I am asking myself whether population growth is the problem or there are other issues," said Olaleye during a debate on water use in the Limpopo River Basin – a river that flows through Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Farmers blame policy makers for failing to put in place mechanisms to protect small scale farmers from existing laws that make it difficult for them to access water.

"We need to facilitate creative dialogue between those running the country on this issue of water as far as it impacts the small scale farmer," argued Reverend Otto Mbangula, from the National Farmers Union of South Africa.

"The current legal framework has a clause that makes it difficult for small scale farmers to access water. The people who control water are the people who bought it a long time ago. This makes it difficult for us small-scale farmers to access water."

Winston Ntseke of the Lesotho Farmers Union said the main challenge for farmers was infrastructure. He said the "farmers on their own cannot do much" as they do not have the means to develop the infrastructure required to draw water.

Simon Cook from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research challenge programme on water and food said any interventions made should prioritise the poor.

"We must maintain agricultural activity because the poorest rely on agriculture – everything else comes later," said Cook.