• What we do
  • The People
  • About Us
  • Why Innovation Africa
  • Contact Us
Innovation AfricaCreating the Future Today
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • Stakeholder involvement, knowledge, and gender norms key for effective rainwater management

    August 1, 2017 Editor 0

    Cattle cool off in the Awash after a long trek
    Cattle cool off in the Awash River, Oromia, Ethiopia, after a long trek (photo credit: ILRI).

    Poor rainwater management (RWM) is a major challenge in the smallholder mixed crop-livestock farming system in Ethiopia. Success of previous RWM interventions by government and international organizations has been hampered by weakness in technical design, minimal community involvement in project design, unfavourable land use policies as well as poor follow-up and monitoring.

    A three-year (2010-2013) Nile Basin Development Challenge Program piloted an integrated RWM approach that combined technologies/practices, policies and institutions and involved multiple stakeholders (farmers, researchers, planners and policymakers). Innovation platforms (IPs) where organized to bring together these different stakeholders for knowledge sharing, joint planning and implementation of novel RWM interventions. The goal was to address interrelated problems of land degradation, livestock feed shortage, and soil erosion, in an effort to improve the resilience of rural livelihoods.

    Researchers from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) conducted a study to establish the effect of this integrated RWM approach on stakeholders’ knowledge, attitudes, skills and practices and to assess their perceptions about the approach.

    Based on a qualitative exploratory study, the research was undertaken in early 2014 using individual semi-structured interviews to collect data from 54 IP members that included farmers, development agents, district administrators, researchers, policymakers and non-governmental organizations representatives from the Diga, Jeldu and Fogera districts of Ethiopia.

    The results of the study, which were recently published in the Natural Resources Forum, a United Nations Sustainable Development Journal, reveal that the implementation of the integrated RWM approach had positive effects on stakeholders’ knowledge, attitudes, skills and practices.

    The stakeholders acquired new knowledge in how to successfully manage soil and water, while considering local needs, institutions and policies. Farmers acquired more knowledge regarding RWM practices, while planners, policymakers and researchers gained more knowledge in multi-stakeholder engagement processes.

    Furthermore, the results show that differences in gender roles and responsibilities influence the RWM technological preferences among male and female farmers. Understanding these differences in light of preferences and gender-based constraints, such as workload, might help researchers and development practitioners design acceptable and sustainable RWM interventions.

    The study concludes that RWM approaches that directly address the needs of male and female farmers in the short- to medium-term are more likely to be adopted. Effective rainwater management requires strong collaboration, capacity development of all stakeholders, incentives such as inputs and markets, favourable policies and norms, and continuous monitoring.

    Read the full article here

    Filed under: East Africa, Ethiopia, Gender, Gender news, Livelihoods, LIVESTOCK-CRP, PIL, WLE Tagged: NBDCP, Rainwater management
    Go to Source

    Related Posts

    • How to Prototype an App in 1 hour: meet POP
    • Africa Needs to Invest More in ‘Life Sciences’ to Benefit from TechnologyAfrica Needs to Invest More in ‘Life Sciences’ to Benefit from Technology
    • Open Innovation: Tapping into CreativityOpen Innovation: Tapping into Creativity
    • Constructing a multilevel spatial approach in ethnic entrepreneurship studies
    • The sustainability of Africa’s start-up culture – 6 Incubators and accelerators and what they tell usThe sustainability of Africa’s start-up culture – 6 Incubators and accelerators and what they tell us
    • In Praise of the ICT Middleman
    Sovrn
    Share

    Categories: Agriculture

    The absorptive capacity as a key success factor in international strategic alliances: a study of Tunisian firms Organisational resilience: building business value in a changing world

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe to our stories


 

Recent Posts

  • Entrepreneurial Alertness, Innovation Modes, And Business Models in Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises December 30, 2021
  • The Strategic Role of Design in Driving Digital Innovation June 10, 2021
  • Correction to: Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control June 10, 2021
  • BRIEF FOCUS: Optimal spacing for groundnuts in smallholder farming systems June 9, 2021
  • COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa June 9, 2021

Categories

Archives

Popular Post-All time

  • A review on biomass-based... 1k views
  • Can blockchain disrupt ge... 762 views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Y... 757 views
  • Prize-winning projects pr... 716 views
  • Test Your Value Propositi... 688 views

Recent Posts

  • Entrepreneurial Alertness, Innovation Modes, And Business Models in Small- And Medium-Sized Enterprises
  • The Strategic Role of Design in Driving Digital Innovation
  • Correction to: Hybrid mosquitoes? Evidence from rural Tanzania on how local communities conceptualize and respond to modified mosquitoes as a tool for malaria control
  • BRIEF FOCUS: Optimal spacing for groundnuts in smallholder farming systems
  • COVID-19 pandemic: impacts on the achievements of Sustainable Development Goals in Africa
  • Explicit knowledge networks and their relationship with productivity in SMEs
  • Intellectual property issues in artificial intelligence: specific reference to the service sector
  • Africa RISING publishes a livestock feed and forage production manual for Ethiopia
  • Transforming crop residues into a precious feed resource for small ruminants in northern Ghana
  • Photo report: West Africa project partners cap off 2020 with farmers field day events in Northern Ghana and Southern Mali

Tag Cloud

    africa African Agriculture Business Business model Business_Finance Company Crowdsourcing data Development East Africa economics Education Entrepreneur entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship ethiopia ghana Health_Medical_Pharma ict Information technology Innovation kenya knowledge Knowledge Management Leadership marketing mobile Mobile phone nigeria Open innovation Organization Research rwanda science Science and technology studies social enterprise social entrepreneurship south africa Strategic management strategy tanzania Technology Technology_Internet uganda

Categories

Archives

  • A review on biomass-based hydrogen production for renewable energy supply 1k views
  • Can blockchain disrupt gender inequality? 762 views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Your Big Data Innovations in Agriculture 757 views
  • Prize-winning projects promote healthier eating, smarter crop investments 716 views
  • Test Your Value Proposition: Supercharge Lean Startup and CustDev Principles 688 views

Copyright © 2005-2020 Innovation Africa Theme created by PWT. Powered by WordPress.org