Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe
Summary. Smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe and Mozambique can access water for irrigation from shallow sand river aquifers using low-cost well-points and solar pumps, costing under $1,000 per 0.2 hectares. Pilots show water availability is not the constraint; instead, success depends on farmers' prior experience, market access, and willingness to adopt individual commercial farming rather than traditional communal irrigation schemes. The approach scales gradually as farmers expand operations.
Cite this article
Duker, A., Cambaza, C. M., Saveca, P. S. L., Ponguane, S. J. A., Mawoyo, T., Hulshof, M., Nkomo, L., Hussey, S., Pol, B. V. D., Vuik, R., Stigter, T., & Zaag, P. V. D.. (2020). Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Environmental Science & Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010
Duker, Annelieke, et al. “Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.” Environmental Science & Policy, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010.
Duker, Annelieke, Cesário Manuel Cambaza, Paulo Sérgio Lourenço Saveca, Sérgio Jordão Augusto Ponguane, T.A. Mawoyo, M. Hulshof, Lucia Nkomo, et al.. 2020. “Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe.” Environmental Science & Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010.
@article{duker-2020-using-nature-based-water-storage,
title = {Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe},
author = {Annelieke Duker and Cesário Manuel Cambaza and Paulo Sérgio Lourenço Saveca and Sérgio Jordão Augusto Ponguane and T.A. Mawoyo and M. Hulshof and Lucia Nkomo and Stephen Hussey and B. Van den Pol and R. Vuik and Tibor Stigter and Pieter van der Zaag},
journal = {Environmental Science & Policy},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010}
}
TY - JOUR TI - Using nature-based water storage for smallholder irrigated agriculture in African drylands: Lessons from frugal innovation pilots in Mozambique and Zimbabwe AU - Annelieke Duker AU - Cesário Manuel Cambaza AU - Paulo Sérgio Lourenço Saveca AU - Sérgio Jordão Augusto Ponguane AU - T.A. Mawoyo AU - M. Hulshof AU - Lucia Nkomo AU - Stephen Hussey AU - B. Van den Pol AU - R. Vuik AU - Tibor Stigter AU - Pieter van der Zaag JO - Environmental Science & Policy PY - 2020 DO - 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010 UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010 ER -
Details
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.02.010
- Countries
- Zimbabwe, Mozambique
- Regions
- Africa
- Categories
- agtech, climate-and-environment, food-systems
- Added
- 2026-04-28