Project Duration: 

2004-2007

Geographical Focus: 

Project Description / Background

The Smallholder System Innovations (SSI) program is a multidisciplinary applied research program with direct relevance to rural development. It addresses the environmental, social and institutional conditions required to enable a sustainable upgrading of rainfed agriculture among smallholder farmers in water scarce tropical and sub-tropical environments. It thereby contributes to livelihood security and poverty alleviation in rural communities of sub-Saharan Africa.

The program operates at field, watershed and basin scale together with rural communities studying the potential and consequences of introducing water system innovations to upgrade rainfed agriculture. The program will generate knowledge on the extent to which rainfed farming can sustainably be upgraded and what capacities are required among local farmers, community institutions and formal watershed and basin authorities to make a process of sustainable agricultural water use possible.

The program links participatory development methodologies with multidisciplinary research on water and environmental processes and management within the context of adaptation and adoption of system innovations.

The program is carried out in two river basins (the Thukela river basin in South Africa and the Pangani river basin in Tanzania) representing typical semi-arid to dry sub-humid climates.

The program involves five interacting R&D components:

• Adaptive and participatory identification, development and assessment of system innovations in rainfed farming systems.
• Spatial analysis of potential and criteria for up-scaling of system innovations at watershed scale.
• Research on vulnerability and resilience of ecological functions to water dynamics in managed tropical agro-ecosystems.
• Research on hydrological, environmental and socio-economic impacts of up-scaling.
• Research on institutional and policy requirements to balance water for food and environmental security at watershed and basin scale.

Goal 

Specific Objectives

The development objective of the SSI program is- ‘to contribute with knowledge, planning tools and institutional capacity to enable a sustainable upgrading of rainfed agriculture through adaptation and adoption of water system innovations at watershed and river basin scale in drought prone tropical and sub-tropical agro-ecosystems’

Immediate Project Objectives

• To analyze the hydrological, environmental and socio-economic consequences of up-scaling water system innovations in small-holder, predominantly rainfed agriculture at watershed scale,
• To develop methodologies and decision support tools for improved rainwater management and equitable sharing of water between upstream and downstream users and uses in nature and society.
• To translate knowledge on the links between intensification of agriculture through water system innovations, and its impacts on water, food and ecosystems at watershed and river basin scale, into useable tools for planning and policy.

• To contribute to human capacity building on integrated water resources management with specific focus on balancing water for food and nature, in Southern Africa through PhD, MSc training, and workshops. 

Outputs

The SSI programme will generate three distinct categories of outputs:

• Knowledge generation and advancement of science.
• Human capacity building in IWRM.
• Support to institutional, planning and policy development in IWRM.

Partners 

• International Water Management Institute (http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org) 
• UNESCO-IHE (http://www.unesco-ihe.org)
• University of KwaZulu Natal (http://www.beeh.unp.ac.za)
• Sokoine University of Agriculture (http://eng.suanet.ac.tz/swmrg)
• Stockholm University (http://www.ecology.su.se)

Donors

• Swedish International Development Agency (Sida)
• WOTRO
• DGIS
• IWMI
• UNESCO-IHE