Even rivers change course, so why can't we?

Right after graduation I had my local field experience at Kwimba District Council (KDC) where I spent about ten years serving as an Agro Engineer at the Department of Agriculture, Irrigation and Cooperatives (DAIC). Kwimba is a one of the regions in Tanzania where rainfall scarcity event dominates. In my tenure at KDC, I frequently observed crops and grasslands affected by droughts.

Traditional irrigation practices in Kwimba, particularly in Mwang`halanga ward, have existed for quite a long time, whereby farmers used to irrigate their field from run-off or flood from the Sasi River. Paddy is the dominant crop, while maize, green grams, groundnuts and legumes are also the common crops in the area. In those days, though the dry spell season happened, rainfall was uniformly distributed and the pattern was consistent - farmers knew when to expect it. This differs from our current climate scenario.

First intervention in this area was construction of a weir structure to contain river water and an earth canal to direct this water to farmlands. When the river changed its course, the weir structure did not make much impact. After further investigation, in 2009, it was found that the appropriate solution to the problem was to construct a dam that can store rainwater, and the construction completed in 2015. Productivity of paddy after this intervention increased significantly from 1.2 to 3.0 tons per hectare.

Today, I am with TARI, but I still accompany the development of the KDC irrigation scheme which is now managed by the National Irrigation Commission, Mwanza zone. Currently, the main challenges in the irrigation scheme are uncontrolled water supply and fodder scavenging livestock. The poor irrigation water conveyance system hinders the effort of farmers to cultivate twice a year.

My participation in the food systems e-course immersed me into the concept, perspectives, and practices of food systems. It gave me a clear picture of a food system and what it takes to achieve a sustainable one. I learned that transforming food systems should consider appropriate adaptable technologies. In particular, for food systems to be resilient to climate changes. Simply put, we need to redesign out approach when things are no longer the same as before. Even rivers change course, so why can’t we?

Hence, I am proposing an intervention that centres on intensification and diversification. That means introducing a second paddy production season with supplementary irrigation at tillering and booting stages, and promoting cultivation of crops that do not require much water and time, like vegetables and fruits. The intervention further promotes relevant techniques, such as on-farm water harvesting, efficient water use, and soil moisture conservation. In addition, in order to avoid crop invasion by livestock, paddy straws together with other potential materials should be processed for animal feed. The most common trend has been to leave paddy straw on the farm or burn it; only few farmers use it as construction material.

All these wont go an inch without a multi-stakeholder approach. So, we will build a strong collaboration among key stakeholders, such as the Irrigators Organization (CHAWAUMA), National Irrigation Commission, Tanzania Livestock Research Institute, Tanzania Forest Research Institute, farmers’ cooperatives, agro-dealers, as well as relevant sectoral departments. My expectation is that this food system intervention not only helps to improve socio-economic conditions of farmers but also to restore the ecosystem, ensure peace in the community, and build a climate change adaptable crop-livestock production system in the district.