Earthcare Innovations helps smallholder farmers by creating efficient irrigation systems to produce big yields using less water. Our innovative system made with buried clay pipes is cost effective, requires minimal labor, reduces weeds, and empowers farmers to grow more food, giving 80% water efficient compared to traditional irrigation systems.
"Our objective is to empower the grassroots farmer to grow more using less water."
As climate change makes rainfed agriculture an increasingly precarious venture, small-scale irrigation technology is key to ensuring smallholder farmers can adapt and manage risk. Overall, small holder farmers are less likely to practice irrigation than large scale farmers. The few small holder farmers who do irrigate are more likely to use highly labor-intensive manual methods of lifting and applying water, such as buckets and watering cans, while large scale farmers are more likely to use more expensive, labor-saving mechanized technologies such as solar or diesel pumps.
This reflects the reality that small holder farmers do not have the same opportunities as large scale farmers to adopt and benefit from irrigation technology. Our new Water Saving Irrigation System(WSIS) addresses this imbalance.
The smallholder farmers are the majority of the farming force in Uganda (estimated at 80 percent), and like large scale farmers who mainly pursue plantation agriculture mainly in cash crops and livestock, they need also need irrigation.
Large scale farmers and small holder farmers both face barriers to adopting irrigation and other agricultural technologies, but small holder farmers face more barriers and different kinds of barriers.
A common mistake is to only think about the act of buying or acquiring technology. In fact, acquisition is only one elelement within a wider uptake process that includes four key stages: Technology development, dissemination, adoption, and use. Each stage presents opportunities to include small holder farmers and overcome constraints
Innovative irrigation technology does:
We investigate the following social inclusion issues at each phase:
[1] Design:
Irrigation technology is rarely designed with or for small holder farmers. This matters because small holder farmers often prefer different irrigation technologies than large scale farmers and will not adopt technology that does not meet their needs. Making irrigation work for small holder farmers means understanding where, when, for what purposes, and at what scale small holder farmers clients want to use irrigation and water technologies in the given context. Issues like the location or portability of the technology, suitability, social acceptability of use, and upfront and operational costs often matter to small holder farmers.
[2] Dissemination
Even if the technology meets small holder farmers’ needs, small holder farmers won’t adopt it if they don’t know about it. Disseminating information about new technology requires specific strategies to reach small holder farmers. Traditional channels, such as farmer field days and trainings or working through extension agents, producer groups, or equipment dealers, may leave small holder farmers out. Rather, we need to meet small holder farmers where they are and provide information through networks that small holder farmers trust, such as small holder farmers community leaders, savings groups, frontline health workers, or small holder farmers lead farmers and producer groups
[3] Adoption
Once small holder farmers learn about a technology, in most cases, they need to find a way to purchase it. Access to credit remains a challenge for small holder farmers. In addition, irrigators need access to irrigable land, water, labor, and markets to buy inputs and sell irrigated produce. Small holder farmers are disadvantaged in each of these areas.
[4] Use
Finally, after irrigation technology is adopted, large scale farmers and small holder farmers, may experience different impacts, such as workload, power to decide on whose plots of land the technology is used, and control over the income generated. There are also risks to small holder farmers who irrigate. More powerful actors in the family or outside can appropriate land after they make investments in irrigation, so efforts are needed to secure small holder farmers’ land and water tenure to ensure benefits after the technology is adopted.
[5] Taking action
Earthcare Innovations Limited (EIL) is making small-scale irrigation work for small holder farmers by designing the Water Saving Irrigation System (WSIS) that empowers grass roots farmers and small holder farmers to become climate change resilient. Our process of technology adoption requires coordination between actors to ensure the design of the technology meets small holder farmers’ needs, that information about the technology reaches small holder farmers, that small holder farmers are able to adopt the technology, and that small holder farmers are able to benefit securely from the technology.
47% of women farmers' time is spend on-farm among other jobs they have off-farm
Rural women travel long distances for fuel, food, and fodder, this work can pose great hardship, especially in arid and semiarid regions where trees and crops are scarce. Irrigation is an obvious solution, but providing enough water to nurture crops and trees on dry, sandy soils is difficult, our solution: the Water Saving Irrigation System(WSIS), can help.
Growing crops and trees is difficult in arid and semi-arid regions, especially in high percolation sandy soils. Our solution, the WSIS can reduce the frequency of waterings and reduce the total amount of water needed, while ensuring a constant regulated supply of moisture to crops and young trees.
Water, nutrition, health, and women’s empowerment are closely interlinked. The WSIS can make water access reliable year-round, generating a range of benefits. Reliable water access provides greater availability and stability of food supplies during the dry season, enables crop diversification, including micronutrient-rich vegetables and fruits, and generates income during the lean season. Access to irrigation can also help improve communities’ water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and support communities’ health status. Finally, reliable water access is also an important entry point for women’s empowerment. Women tend to invest more than men in household nutrition, education, and health, and therefore, enhancing women’s access to and control over irrigation can have a positive multiplier effect on reducing undernutrition.
Women are largely responsible for food preparation, childcare and water-collection chores, so improved access to irrigation water can reduce women’s work burden. The time saved as a result of having better access to water can allow women to participate more actively in income-generating, caregiving, and social activities. However, access to irrigation is not without risks: in some cases, irrigation may increase women’s agricultural workload given an extended growing season, or risk other actors dispossessing women of their irrigated plots, since irrigation can raise land value. To ensure irrigation interventions do no harm, adequate protections for women’s work burden and for women’s control over irrigation and land are key.
However, women face particular barriers in accessing irrigation. Relative to men, women often have limited access to land, water, labor, capital, technology, information, and other assets, and therefore, they are less likely to access or benefit from irrigation interventions. Men, in contrast, generally have better access to irrigation technologies and own most irrigation assets. As a result, the income generated from irrigated agriculture is often controlled by men and spent according to their preferences. To promote gender parity, irrigation interventions must proactively promote women’s inclusion and participation, especially supporting women to overcome asset-based constraints. When women mobilize inputs themselves and are included in irrigation and water management institutions, they are more likely to benefit from irrigation interventions.
Improving home garden production through irrigation can be an important entry point for women’s empowerment because women frequently control home garden production. The micronutrient-dense fruits and vegetables grown in these plots are usually kept for home consumption or sold in local markets and support household and community food security. In contrast, cash crops are usually men’s domain. Improving women’s involvement in cash crop production has potential to enhance household nutrition and welfare if women have a say in the use of income from the sale of cash crops.
A high water demand of 41% of water withdraw for agriculture is ceasing cultivation completely in dry seasons and drought stricken areas
The desert district Karamoja recieves sparse rainfall averaging around 500mm (19inches) per year. The region’s evapotranspiration is generally high. Temperatures are generally high throughout the year reaching 32.5 °C (90.5F) for maximum and heat waves have become longer in the last years.
In this harsh climate which could become even more extreme as the planet warms, villageres will have no access to canal water , ruling our crop cultivation in the past. But our WSIS makes agriculture possible hence ushering in a new era for local farmers.
The WSIS is a sub surface micro irrigaiotn, it is an efficient method, dleivering water directly to plant roots rather than spreading it more widely across fields. A similar ancient technique has been used in in arid and sem arid regions of china,inida, iran, mexico and brazil to grow a wide rage of plants
The WSIS can be used to grow a wide range of plants including cucumber,okra, eggpolant, beans, toamates, melons among many others. The rate of water seepage from our WSIS depends on the type of plant, soil and climate condition hence our system is self regulating to control over or under irrigation and water losses are negligable.
For small holder farmes, the WSIS costs around 1,500,000 Ugx (nearly $270) per acre _about 70% cheaper than drip and sprinkoler irrigiaotn. The yields per acre is around 60% higher than with furrow and flood irrigation which many farmers continue to use .
Our WSIS is easily available in Uganda and can be easily exported or shipped across various countries in Africa and the world atlarge.
Karamoja faces a majour challenge in adapting to its fast depleting water resources. They are coming under increased pressure due to uncertain rainfall, a rising population, outdated and ineficiet irrigation systems and reliance on water intesive crop varieities.
Karamoja is classifeid as a water stressed distitcy , with less than 1000cubic meteres per capita water availble, down from the 5500 cubic meters per capita in the 1950s
Achiecing maximum crop productivity from each drop of water is regarded as essential for th sustainability of the agricultural sector and food security .But achienving this goal will be difficult unless farmers switch to new methods such as the WSIS.
There's a reason school and classroom gardens have been growing in popularity–gardening works exceptionally well as a comprehensive hands-on learning tool, especially for STEM-related topics. Earthcare innovations Limited (EIL) brings educational learning gardens into low-income elementary schools. Schools with installed gardens see an average increase of 12-15% in students' standardized test pass rates, with science often having the largest gains.
Gardening is also a learning tool that is appropriate for children or adults of any age. Early childhood providers and preschool programs can use gardens to provide multisensory learning experiences and to give children a strong foundation in basic STEM concepts. Elementary educators can then utilize gardens to expand on children's previous knowledge and to reinforce what children are learning in class. Gardening can also expose children to science and other STEM disciplines at an earlier age, which will increase the likelihood of them studying or working in a STEM-related field later in life.
Here are just a few of the ways we use gardening to support STEM-based learning in the classroom:
We at EIL advocate for STEM, hence gardening also provides a variety of creative art opportunities. Children can draw or paint pictures of the plants, flowers, and insects they see in the garden, or they can make their own flower bouquet as a creative project.
Gardening is a great learning activity for teaching STEM. Just be sure to make gardening intentional and educational by planning educational opportunities and objectives for kids. Contact us today for your plants and gardening materials for gardening tools and kits you can utilize in your school or classroom garden.
The Victoria Schools located near Kampala are now harvesting tomatoes among other vegetables using the porous clay pipe irrigationn vessels. Pupils get ot learn about how tomatoes grow, the nutritional benefit and how to plan, price and sell products from thier school gardens
Stella has been fulfilling her dream of having an urban farm in her backyard at home in Ntinda. Stella prides herself on harvesting delicious, safe, wholesome and fresh tomatoes, guavas, herbs and leavy vegetables that she uses to cook and stay healthy. This saves on grocery costs too.
She enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge with ladies that visit her farm from her church encouraging them to have a sustainable back yard garden that thrives throughout the year.
Tomatoes ready for harvest using the porous clay irrigation vessels
Porous clay irrigaion vessels installed in raised beds
Leafy vegetables ready for harvest using the porous clay irrigation vessels
Leafy vegetables ready for harvest using the porous clay irrigation vessels
Tomatoes ready for harvest using the porous clay irrigation vessels
Leafy vegetables ready for harvest using the porous clay irrigation vessels
Delivery of porous clay irrigation vessels
Delivery of porous clay irrigation vessels