Evaluating the Potential for a Novel Irrigation System Controller to Be Adopted by Medium-Scale Contract Farmers in East Africa

Abstract

Food insecurity in East Africa (EA) is exacerbated by the effects of climate change. Water scarcity and high energy costs make it difficult for farmers to increase their yields to levels needed to feed growing populations. One way for countries to sustainably increase food production is to increase the adoption of water- and energy-efficient irrigation technology. Solar-powered drip irrigation systems are such a technology. These systems provide many benefits to farmers who have been able to install them on their fields, but their high costs is one barrier that currently limits its adoption among the majority of EA farmers. In this work, a concept for a novel irrigation controller is introduced and assessed for its viability in the EA market. The proposed controller determines complex irrigation schedules based on local weather predictions and specifics of a given farm. It does this while optimizing for the lifetime performance of the irrigation system, something that existing controllers do not do and something that could lower the lifetime costs of solar-powered drip irrigation systems. The proposed controller communicates this complex schedule to farmers in a way that allows them to continue to use low-cost, manually-operated valves on their fields. This concept is evaluated through storyboard-based interviews with EA farmers and key market stakeholders. The results provide initial positive feedback from these lead users, suggesting that this controller could be a viable product in EA. If adopted at scale, this technology could help lower the barrier to adopting water- and energy-efficient irrigation, ultimately having a positive, sustainable impact on food security in EA.