This research employed field surveys in selected Malawian districts to understand the SSPI adopted in Malawi; these were analysed through descriptive statistics.
The characteristics of the pumps adopted by farmers in Malawi suggest that technical characteristics of pumps have an important influence in adoption of SSPI. Characteristics that appeared to influence adoption of the different pumps included the sources of energy, portability and ease of operation. Pumps types that are heavier, harder to operate and weigh more are generally less preferred by the farmers. This is demonstrated by the number and types of the pumps being abandoned. Over 70% of treadle pumps that are being abandoned by farmers are the Advaith type and these are perceived as harder to operate and heavier than the Money Makers type. Likewise, over 80% of farmers preferred having individual motorized pumps; usually these pumps have smaller engine capacities and are portable by hand suggesting that possibly these are also preferred because they are portable and use less fuel. Similar understandings on the importance of technical factors such as energy in adoption of irrigation technology were also highlighted by van Averbeke et al. (2011) in South Africa and Djagba et al. (2014) in Benin where the pumped irrigation systems were compared with gravity irrigation systems.
With regard to pump manufacturers, although all motorized pumps in Malawi are imported, only two manufacturers were identified for group motorized pumps while the individual motorized pumps had a number of manufacturers. The markets in Malawi are currently flooded with cheap Chinese-manufactured petrol water pumps, and these are entitled to VAT exemption on irrigation equipment by the government (World Bank, 2011). These conditions may have also contributed to the increased recent uptake of the individual (private) pumps. This corresponds to the general trends observed in other parts of the SSA (Awulachew and Merrey, 2001; Colenbrander and van Koppen, 2012; De Fraiture et al., 2014; Giordano and de Fraiture, 2014; Namara et al., 2013). The research suggests that pump promoters may benefit from recognizing that pump adoption can also be supported by policies that create an enabling environment such as ensuring the greater availability of the pumps to farmers. Conversely, although many organizations are promoting treadle pumps in Malawi, very few commercially distribute these pumps, suggesting that their adoption is highly dependent on the organizations supplying them.
Socio-economic characteristics of the farmers
The research determined that the individual owned pumps are preferred more than the group pumps while most promoting organizations are supporting the group pumps. In Kenya, Scheltema, (2002) also underlined that pumped systems managed by groups of farmers were not sustainable because the financial demands and organization requirements were much higher. That study also found that most pumped schemes failed even before their life span were attained suggesting that management of the pumps was critical. In contrast, the individual owned pumps were found to be successful. These findings from Kenya are consistent with this research suggesting that SSPI adoption would be more effective if pumps are promoted as individual owned. Promoting organizations may only use the groups as points of accessing farmers.
The research suggests that pumps promoted by incentives are adopted by farmers who are typically poorer and they are unlikely to be ready to support the adoption decision. The implication is that pumps adopted by incentive are more likely to be abandoned. These findings are consistent with a number of studies. Chancellor, (2000) questioned the sustainability of promoting treadle pumps to the poor farmers considering that the costs for other pump accessories, e.g. hose pipes, which these farmers may not manage. Fanadzo (2012) argued that the major factors leading to underperformance of the SSI schemes in SSA are the poor technical skills of the farmers. Oni et al. (2011) highlighted that the socio-economic characteristics of farmers are essential for farmers to adopt new irrigation technologies. In Ghana, it was found that the prevailing policies promoting pump irrigation were only in favour of the better-off farmers (Namara et al., 2014). However, this research showed that adoption of these pumps may be sustained if farmers continue receiving external support (Section 7.2.6). This suggests that policies that consider the capacity of the potential pump adopters to operate, repair, maintain and obtain the spare parts of the pumps may be necessary in sustaining adoption. It may be that there are strong ethical and other reasons for supporting the poorer farmers, but these farmers are likely to need more and continuing support, which needs to be included in the strategies to sustain the adoption (Burney and Naylor, 2012; Carter et al., 1999; Djagba et al., 2014; Muchara et al., 2014).
Irrigations characteristics of farmers
Related to the pumps promoted by incentives, the study found that there is a mismatch between the pumps adopted and the physical characteristics of farmers’ irrigated fields. Most farmers previously practice irrigation on individual irrigated fields with private access to irrigation water sources. The typical irrigated field sizes for most treadle and group motorized pump farmers (incentive farmers) are less than 0.2ha and their water sources are typically small for example, on average, the dimension of most shallow wells are 1.0m diameter and 2.0m deep (Section 6.3.2). Conversely, pumps such as group motorized require bigger irrigated areas and water sources with large water volumes. This findings question the sustainability of these group motorized pumps which are highly promoted to farmers in Malawi. This also questions the basis for NIPDS policy which encourages farmer participation in SSI irrigation development. These findings are consistent with a study in Ethiopia, Awulachew and Merrey, (2001) which highlighted the importance of paying attention to the local knowledge in SSI development and planning. Similarly, Veldwisch et al. (2009) argued that only if new irrigation schemes are embedded in the existing landscapes, tangible improvements in rural livelihoods can be ensured.
The important lesson learnt from this objective is that farmers generally prefer the pumps that are technically easy to operate, managed individually and fit in with their normal irrigation practices. This means that pumps that do not meet these requirements are less likely to be adopted. Policies promoting pumps’ uptake need to ensure that the types of pumps promoted are consistent with the requirements of farmers in order to be effectively adopted.