1. 1
Research into Use Project: Partners
Planning Workshop and Field Visit
Meeting Venue: Bolgatanga Premier Lodge
Meeting Date: 11-13th November, 2012
Members/Partners Present:
Name Organization Contact (Email/Phone Number)
Pamela Katic IWMI p.katic@cgiar.org
Anna A. Minkah IDE aminkah@ideghana.org
Margaret m Akuriba UDS akumerg@yahoo.com
Joseph Awuni UDS josephawunigh@yahoo.co.uk
Fred Kizito IWMI f.kizito@cgiar.org
Absent with excuse
Regassa Namara IWMI r.namara@cgiar.org
Bob Nanes IDE bnanes@ideorg.org
Saa Dittoh UDS saaditt@gmail.com
Meeting Agenda:
1. Brief members introduction
2. Recap on Inception Workshop minutes
3. Round-the-table input on Partners contribution for proposed outputs: UDS and IDE
4. Discussion on Biophysical and Socio-economic indicators of successful smallholder irrigation
5. Report Framework
6. AOB and Conclusion
These are only draft notes and can be revised in case I have misrepresented or wrongly captured
what had been said during the meeting.
Recap on Inception Workshop:
- Pamela noted that Meeting minutes were present and would be shared with the members
- It was also noted that the inception meeting had various groups of partners present:
National entities, NGOS, Universities, Farmer groups
- The PowerPoint presentations for the Inception workshop are also available and will be
shared among partners

2. 2
Round-the-table input on Partners contribution for proposed outputs: UDS
- Working on market access
- Currently building a questionnaire that looks at the entire value chain from the production
level to the end-user markets while factoring in target research areas and looking at other
sites as well; an aspect that will complement the scaling up efforts.
- Crop diversification options are also being explored; currently the main crops on the market
include tomatoes but the problem of perishability and gloat hinder this valuable commodity
- Other crop options include: Onions and pepper but pepper needs serious re-consideration
as it is a heavy feeder. Farmers expend resources on supplementing both organic and
inorganic amendments for good yields.
- Possibility of exploring further on how fresh maize can be a diversification option during the
dry season.
- Consideration of farmer choices plays a critical role in the outcome of whether they will
embrace smallholder irrigation or not. Therefore, the aspect of alternative livelihood
options needs to be factored into our work. Farmers normally make choices based on
profitability of a given venture:
o If a venture requires less investments and is profitable, they are likely to take it up
o If there are other lucrative avenues more profitable than farming, then farmers are
most likely going to embrace those. This is applicable for cases where fishing or
mining activities are predominant in a given area such as Bawku West and
TalensiNambdam
- We were informed that there is an on-going research study being conducted by Paul Pavelic
related to shallow ground water exploitation in the Volta Basin, this work is in progress
(need clarification on this issue).
Round-the-table input on Partners contribution for proposed outputs: IDE
Participants were briefed on IDE activities mainly on the nature of irrigation technologies
available in the field and on the market.
The discussion included the comparison between the fixed wooden treadle pump and the
portable one with a metal frame. Below is a representation of the two types of pumps as
captured from IDE partner AnnaMinkah.
Wooden permanent Metallic portable
Relatively cheaper More expensive in the short term; major cost
is cost of cylinders
Every season, you need to change the frame Does not require frame change, only routine
and dry wood maintenance;
Permanent and has little flexibility More convenient and durable
Perform maintenance of pump and washers; Take good care of parts, bucket washers and
avoid pumping in very muddy waters
Ensure that you have a tight fit of the stoppers Can last for more than 5 years
within the cylinder to avoid efficiency losses

3. 3
Wooden permanent Metallic portable
Treadles are normally sturdy though they need Treadles are subject to bending depending on
replacement each season the nature of metal used; also the bucket
washers do not perform optimally if the
cylinders are too wide and currently the
cylinders are slightly tighter
IDE has installers in the community that can take a fee for routine maintenance. However, the challenge
was that because installers are well known in the community, they do not receive remuneration for their
services
- IDE has now resorted to swapping the installers among the communities; people are more
inclined to pay for services to someone they do not know than to someone they know.
- There are some reasons why people may not use the treadle pump: Treadle pumps do not
have a distribution system, if the treadle is located in the middle of the plot with a slope,
then the lower half of the garden will have water delivered by gravity while the upper
portion will be by bucket
- If treadle pumps could be coupled with a water distribution system then this will reduce the
labour drudgery
- IDE is also testing alternative energy sources
o Submersible pumps
o Solar pumps
o Centrifugal surface pumps
o AC powered electric pumps
o Conducted a survey on petrol engine pumps; there are interesting emerging results
on the market origins, cost and durability of these pumps i.e. Chinese pumps from
Accra, Kumasi vs those from Sankassi in Togo
o Kick start pump; testing it on flow measurements and how it performs compared to
the pressure treadle pump. Preliminary results indicate that the ide treadle pump
has a slightly higher flow rate than the kick start pump by about 0.2 liters/sec
- IDE has been exploring micro-finance options
o Previous experience with Ecklof yielded mixed results in that some farmers were not
paying back either due to spending the loan on other business initiatives not
necessarily related to irrigation or sometimes disbursement of loans and timing
does not match with the cropping season
o Currently, IDE has an arrangement with a rural bank that provided micro-finance
assistance. This has training for trust where confidence and trust groups are formed
among farmers. Farmers could divide themselves into 5 trust groups then each trust
group appoints a leader, these 5 leaders then form a confidence group and act on
behalf of the trust groups on activities such as liaison with the bank, distribution of
money, collection of loan payments, distribution of inputs, produce and sales
o The formation of trust and confidence groups seems to be yielding good results

4. 4
Discussion on Biophysical and Socio-economic indicators of successful
smallholder irrigation
- Partners brainstormed on the parameters that need to be considered if successful
smallholder irrigation is to be scaled up for portions of the White Volta Basin. A common
agreement was that it will require a unique combination of biophysical and socio-economic
conditions for smallholder irrigation to achieve optimal performance and crop productivity.
This was labelled “unique” because the applicability of each situation varies on a case by
case basis yet these factors do not work in isolation but in combination with other factors
under an enabling environment.
- Workshop participants identified 14 parameters (shown in Table 1 below) pertinent to
successful small-scale irrigation and wrote brief narratives about each parameter. These
narratives form part of the Report on Biophysical and Socio-economic conditions conducive
for shallow ground water irrigation. The draft Report will be circulated to partners for their
comments and input.
Table 1: Biophysical and socio-economic conditions favourable for shallow ground water
irrigation
Rank Weight Factor Parameter % Weight Algorithm Categories % Designation
1 14 Presence/Proximity to Water Sources 13.33 100 Very good 80-100 A
2 13 Alternative Livehood Options 12.38 Good 60-80 B
3 12 Soil Characteristics (Suitability for drilling/Ag potential) 11.43 Moderate 50-60 C
4 11 Land Tenure and Water Rights 10.48 Low 30-50 D
5 10 Livestock density (In relation to fencingand crop threats) 9.52 Very low 0.1-29 E
6 9 Attitude/Perception to dry season farming with irrigation 8.57
7 8 Slope/Topography 7.62
8 7 Aridity Index 6.67
9 6 Market access and conducive prices 5.71
10 5 Choice of small scale irrigation technology options 4.76 Baseline additive
11 4 Support services 3.81 105
12 3 Microfinance potential 2.86
13 2 Population density 1.90
14 1 Cropping density 0.95

5. 5
Report Framework
Socio-economic and biophysical characteristics favourable for smallholder
groundwater irrigation in the White Volta Basin
1. Executive Summary
2. Introduction
3. Study site characteristics
4. Activities conducted
a. Inception workshop
b. Field visits
c. Desk reviews
d. Follow-up workshop
5. Methods
a. Identification of parameters/factors favourable for shallow groundwater irrigation
and rationale for choice
b. Parameter ranking and weighting procedures followed
c. Data sources
i. GIS Spatial layers
ii. Primary data from field surveys and questionnaires
iii. Secondary data from existent reports
d. Mapping of identify areas with potential for scalable small scale irrigation
6. Results and Discussion
7. Conclusions and Recommendations
8. References
9. Appendices (if any)
Field Trip to Nyangwa close to Navrongo
The field trip involved plot excursions of two farmers’ fields in Nyangwa near Navrongo.
At the field site:
- Farmers demonstrated their daily pumping practice with the conventional wooden treadle
pump
- IDE staff demonstrated how the prototype version from the USA functions
- Explanation was provided on the associated maintenance requirements for the treadle
pumps
- Demonstration on use of both treadle pump and rope and bucket were also shown
considering that the position of the treadle pump is sometimes midway the farmers field
with the lower portion receiving water from the pump by gravity and the upper portion
receiving water by bucket
- Pictures of the field trip have been posted at: