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Drawing on the results of the Transforming Irrigation in Southern Africa project, we assess positive transitions in smallholder irrigation schemes. The project's theory of change is evaluated. Soil monitoring tools and agricultural innovation platforms were introduced in five irrigation schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The synergies between these interventions increased both crop yields and profitability. This empowered farmers, improved equity, and accelerated social learning and innovation. The resulting, iterative cycles of change improved governance, sustainability and socio-economic outcomes. The challenges of scaling these interventions up and out are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant expansion of irrigated agriculture is planned in Africa, though existing smallholder schemes perform poorly. Research at six schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe shows that a range of problems are exacerbated by poor management, with limited market linkages leading to underutilization and a lack of profit. Improving sustainability of these complex systems will require: multiple interventions at different scales; investing in people and institutions as much as hardware; clarity in governments’ objectives for their smallholder irrigation schemes; appropriate business models to enable farmers; and better market linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses on the productivity and profitability of small-scale communal irrigation systems in Sub-Saharan Africa. It explores the six irrigation schemes of Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe in south-eastern Africa that provide tools to farmers which enables them to measure soil water and fertility and develop their own agronomic practices.

African governments have ambitious plans to expand irrigated agriculture, though existing smallholder schemes have largely failed to use land and water sustainably or become profitable. Six government-owned irrigation schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe were assessed to identify common policy barriers and opportunities for higher productivity among smallholder farmers. Issues like insecure land tenure systems, unclear institutional arrangements and poor access to markets have contributed to limited profitability. Reform of currently insecure land tenure, strengthening farmer organizations and reforming policies are recommended so that governments step back from scheme management and foster market linkages to enable more profitable irrigated agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

One solution considered by researchers and policymakers to address environmental degradation is to explore change within environmental institutions. Three main approaches exist looking at how institutions change in response to social–environmental issues: institutional design, institutional fit, and institutional bricolage. While all three approaches are relevant, they face challenges when it comes to actually supporting the institutional change process. This article advances the idea that rather than trying to craft blueprint institutions through interventions, such interventions could act as “institutional corridors” to create favorable conditions for “institutional bricolage” to occur. A participatory planning process in the Rwenzori region in Uganda is used as an example. There, five strategies were used for the process to act as an institutional corridor. They were facilitated by four procedural elements and constrained by two external factors. The article concludes by providing concrete ideas about how practitioners can experiment with intervention designs to facilitate institutional bricolage. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many participatory processes fail to generate social change and collaborative outcomes. This failure can partly be explained by how divergent stakeholders' frames are handled. This paper builds on the framing and participation literature to explain how facilitators can manage frame diversity and foster collaborative outcomes. It suggests two pragmatic steps: identifying frames and managing frames. The two steps are applied to a participatory process for natural resource management in Fogera, Ethiopia. Effectiveness of facilitators’ strategies to manage frame diversity in the Fogera case is discussed. Two main elements challenging effectiveness are identified: counter-strategies used by facilitators and most-powerful stakeholders, and the constraining factors knowledge, champions and frame sponsorship. We argue that these elements need to be taken into account by participatory process facilitators when managing frame diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]