Innovation Scaling

Achieving sustainable development requires large-scale system transformation. Innovation is at the heart of this transformation, and in many cases, suitable innovations already exist. What is often missing is the enabling environment to move innovations beyond pilot programs and take them to scale. Innovation scaling is a deliberate and planned effort to enable the use of innovations to have positive impact for many people across broad geographies. Innovation scaling is critical in agriculture and food systems to increase food, nutrition and water security, alleviate poverty and help small farmers adapt to climate change. Despite this potential, many scaling ecosystems are ineffective, and innovation uptake remains limited.

IWMI’s action research on innovation scaling for system transformation focuses on seven areas. These aim not just to identify and introduce new practices or technologies but also to consider ‘softer elements’ such as people, supply chains, markets, policies and power relations that constrain innovation adoption and system transformation. IWMI integrates all the elements to co-develop adaptive, inclusive, affordable and scalable innovation bundles for farmers and other value chain actors. All the focus areas contribute to the broader ambitions of a unified CGIAR to deliver transformational research centered on food, land and water systems in a climate crisis.

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Projects

Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA)

CGIAR Initiative: Aquatic foods

CGIAR Initiative: Climate Resilience (ClimBeR)

CGIAR Initiative: Transforming agri-food systems in South Asia

CGIAR Initiative: West and Central African Food Systems Transformation

Innovation laboratory for small scale irrigation

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Publications

Displaying 6 publications

Catalyzing farmer-led irrigation development in Africa: vision and pathways drawing from business, research and development practices. Adaptive Innovation Scaling - Pathways from Small-scale Irrigation to Sustainable Development
2024
More... [DOI] | Fulltext (2.66 MB)

Farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) has been part of the farming system for hundreds of years, but has only recently attracted increased attention from government institutions, donors and development organizations. Yet, despite its vast potential, FLID has only been expanding slowly. Barriers to scaling include inadequate policy and legal frameworks, underdeveloped irrigation technology and supply chains, a lack of affordable finance, and limited access to input and output markets. Transformative scaling of FLID requires identifying the sociotechnical innovation bundles that fit, designing and implementing effective scaling strategies, and fostering multi-actor engagement and partnerships to achieve impact and trigger changes across farm, local, national, regional and global scales.

Political aspects / Risk / Credit / Entrepreneurs / Learning / Capacity development / Farming systems / Solar powered irrigation systems / Irrigation technology / Youth / Women / Social inclusion / Gender equality / Collaboration / Non-governmental organizations / Development organizations / Donors / Public sector / Private sector / Stakeholders / Partnerships / Incentives / Policies / Value chains / Investment / Business models / Financing / Sustainable development / Small-scale irrigation / Innovation scaling / Research for development / Irrigation development / Farmer-led irrigation
Record No:H052986

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Market segmentation to facilitate scaling of solar-based irrigation bundles in Ethiopia. Adaptive Innovation Scaling - Pathways from Small-scale Irrigation to Sustainable Development
2024
More... [DOI] | Fulltext (1.75 MB)

Despite the high potential of and strong demand for wider adoption of agricultural innovations in Ethiopia, scaling efforts have often been ineffective, and innovation adoption remains limited. Successful and sustainable innovation scaling requires co-identifying and co-developing best-fit solutions for farmers and other actors in the value chain. Bundling these solutions, such as solar-powered irrigation pumps, with pay-as-you-go financing has improved the enabling environment for adoption. Identifying the farmer segments interested in investing in such bundles and strengthening linkages along the irrigation value chains are essential for matching demand and supply and creating the conditions to reach scale.

Groundwater / Water resources / Water user groups / Non-governmental organizations / Private sector / Partnerships / Investment / Financing / Pumps / Agricultural value chains / Farmers / Smallholders / Sustainable development / Innovation adoption / Agricultural innovation / Small-scale irrigation / Innovation scaling / Solar powered irrigation systems / Market segmentation
Record No:H052801

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Enhancing gender and youth inclusion in Ghana’s irrigated vegetable value chain. Adaptive Innovation Scaling - Pathways from Small-scale Irrigation to Sustainable Development
2023
More... [DOI] | Fulltext (3.60 MB)

Financing / Project design / Agricultural development / Water user associations / Integrated water resources management / Collaboration / Learning / Intervention / Strategies / Regulations / Policies / Governmental organizations / Non-governmental organizations / Institutions / Multi-stakeholder processes / Employment / Women farmers / Farmer-led irrigation / Smallholders / Sustainable development / Small-scale irrigation / Innovation scaling / Agricultural value chains / Vegetable growing / Irrigated farming / Inclusion / Youth / Gender
Record No:H051895

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Effective demand for climate-smart adaptation: a case of solar technologies for cocoa irrigation in Ghana
Sustainable Environment, 2023
More... [DOI] | Fulltext (2.25 MB)

Given the generally low adoption of early climate change response technologies among tree crop producers in sub-Saharan Africa, stakeholders interested in the commercialization or scaling of such technologies will require empirical evidence of their market prospects. Using a double-bounded contingent valuation approach, the study evaluated the willingness and ability of 523 Ghanaian producers to invest in solar-powered irrigation pumps (SPIPs) for cocoa irrigation. The sample was split into three segments based on farm size: resource-poor, resource-limited, and resource-rich. Our results show that effective demand increased across the resource segments, with resource-endowed farmers more likely to demand SPIPs than resource-limited or resource-poor farmers. Also, while willingness to invest (WTI) depended on resourcefulness (land), farmers’ ability to invest was directly related to their resource (income class) endowment. We found that WTI across the resource segments was positively influenced by income, education, livestock ownership, credit, and extension services and negatively affected by household size and age of cocoa trees. Among others, we propose that promotional strategies for SPIPs should incorporate well-planned initiatives for income diversification and microcredit services to improve the financial position of the resource-poor and limited segment to encourage the adoption of these technologies.

Climate change / Socioeconomic environment / Smallholders / Investment / Innovation scaling / Farmer-led irrigation / Cocoa / Pumps / Solar powered irrigation systems / Irrigation technology / Climate-smart agriculture
Record No:H052232

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Unlocking the potential of farmer-led irrigation development in central and northern Nigeria: what does it take?
2023
More... [DOI] | Fulltext (629 KB)

The potential for profitable groundwater irrigated area development in Nigeria is 5.04 million hectares (ha), almost all of it located in the country’s central and northern states. To develop this vast area, granular water budgets, financial service provision and support to grow sustainability of production will be needed. Increasing temperature, erratic rainfall, and other extreme events, such as floods and droughts, pose severe threats to development in Nigeria, and particularly in central and northern Nigeria where rainfall is limited, natural resources are threatened by degradation and agriculture, including livestock production, is the major economic driver. Climate change has significant adverse impacts on agricultural production and livelihoods, making the regions’ poor and disadvantaged people even more vulnerable. Agricultural productivity is already affected by climate extreme events and further land expansion would increase degradation and deforestation. At the same time, the central and northern regions of the country are blessed with substantial underground water resources that have been barely tapped. At this point, the potential of farmer-led irrigation, a system where farmers acquire the irrigation technology and access to a water source themselves, is barely exploited. What role could farmer-led, small-scale irrigation play in growing agricultural productivity, rural employment and incomes, and reducing climate stress? And what mechanisms are needed to make this happen?

Agriculture / Climate change / Costs / Pumps / Irrigation technology / Groundwater irrigation / Small-scale irrigation / Solar energy / Water resources / Solar powered irrigation systems / Socioeconomic aspects / Innovation scaling / Farmer-led irrigation
Record No:H052157

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Determining the marketing margin for irrigation technologies in Ghana: a supply chain perspective. Adaptive Innovation Scaling - Pathways from Small-scale Irrigation to Sustainable Development
2023
More... [DOI] | Fulltext (1.05 MB)

Food security / Climate change / Sustainable development / Farmer-led irrigation / Smallholders / Partnerships / Intervention / Projects / Non-governmental organizations / Government agencies / Taxes / Imports / Investment / Drip irrigation / Pumps / Solar powered irrigation systems / Irrigation equipment / Strategies / Cost benefit analysis / Innovation scaling / Small-scale irrigation / Supply chains / Irrigation technology / Marketing margins
Record No:H052156

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Videos

Tools & Data

Innovation Bundle Profiling

Innovation bundles enable different innovations to complement one another and be adapted to new contexts. The scalability of a bundle is measured by its ability to adapt to the context in which it is being scaled, respond positively to any system changes and bring about intended outcomes. Profiling helps to assess the scalability of an innovation bundle and thereby design the best-fit scaling strategies. Innovation bundle profiling includes 1) characterizing the innovation bundle, 2) assessing and enhancing the bundle’s scalability and identifying partnerships to scale the bundle, 3) providing a foundation and inputs to design the scaling actions as well as learning and synergies across work packages, and 4) enhancing the reflexivity of the intervention process to ensure that innovation bundling is participatory, that there are ambassadors for the innovation bundling process, and that financial and human resources are dedicated to the scaling process.

Potential for Solar Photovoltaic-based Irrigation

An interactive online tool to identify suitable areas for solar-based irrigation depending on water sources, soil and land characteristics, market proxies and pump characteristics across sub-Saharan Africa. The solar suitability mapping framework was developed using a GIS-based multi-criteria evaluation technique and implemented by combining spatial information from a number of geospatial drivers for solar-based irrigation.

Analyzing the Enabling Environment to Enhance the Scaling of Irrigation and Water Management Technologies: A Tool for Implementers

Designing scaling strategies that are adaptive to context and available resources requires an understanding of the enabling environment in which the scaling processes are embedded. This can be achieved by conducting an analysis to identify enablers and hinderers influencing farmers’ adoption of irrigation and water management technologies and introducing measures to ensure success. This tool provides implementers with a structured guide to carrying out this analysis.

Considering Gender When Promoting Small-scale Irrigation Technologies

Many actors promoting irrigation technologies in low- and middle-income countries want to ensure that men, women and different social groups have equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from irrigation but are uncertain how to do so. This tool provides a set of questions to assess gender dynamics in irrigation in a specific context.

Water Accounting+

Water accounting integrates hydrological processes with land use, managed water flows and the services that result from water consumption in river basins. Its objective is to achieve equitable and transparent water governance for all users and a sustainable water balance. The Water Accounting+ tool provides independent estimates of water flows, fluxes, stocks, consumption and services.

The Farmer-led Irrigation Development Guide: A What, Why and How-to for Intervention Design

Farmer-led irrigation development (FLID) holds significant potential to safeguard domestic food security and strengthen farmers’ ability to recover from shocks and adapt to a changing environment. The guide aims to provide governments with practical strategies to catalyze FLID and scale it up, making it a faster, more sustainable and inclusive process.

Contacts

Thai Thi Minh

Principal Researcher

Petra Schmitter

Research Group Leader – Climate Mitigation & Adaptation Pathways

Partners

IWMI works with a range of national and international partners on innovation scaling. These include:

Where we work