The sand river alliance aims to empower individual smallholder farming families living in semi-arid to arid lands to become prosperous.
Offering a feasible irrigation solution within reach of smallholder farming families
The irrigation starter pack we offer aims to develop a small irrigation plot of approx. 2,000 m2 (depending on crops grown), a hand-drilled abstraction well-point in the sand river and/or on its banks, connected to small solar-powered pump (e.g. the SF2 developed by Practica Foundation; see https://futurepump.com), with an initial irrigation application method of basin irrigation requiring the smallest possible investment – basically a hosepipe.
The sand river alliance aims for strong ownership through own investments by farming families. The irrigation pack may be provided to the smallholder farmer on a lease-to-buy basis that will be tailored to local circumstances. The initial investment will not exceed USD 1,000 that a farmer is expected to pay back in four to ten instalments after each harvest. Once the farmer has paid the total agreed amount s/he will become full owner of the solar pump and ancillary infrastructure. During the lease phase, it will be ensured that in case of crop failure (due to circumstances beyond his/her control) the farmer will not get trapped in a debt cycle. Alternative modalities could include rental agreements.

Offering a scalable irrigation solution that starts small but can organically grow, based on own profits and learning
It is proposed to start with a small irrigation plot of approx. 2,000 m2. The initial irrigation application method will be basin irrigation, which will be relatively cheap but having a low irrigation application efficiency.
The smallholder farmer can subsequently grow his/her business in two ways: (a) intensifying cultivation by investing, with own profits, in drip irrigation; now other (higher value) crops come into reach, and as a result of higher irrigation application efficiencies, the irrigated area may also increase somewhat; and/or (b) extending cultivation by buying a second or bigger solar pump and doubling the irrigated area, again with own profits.
A flexible irrigation solution that can deal with large variabilities of climate and market, and thus enhancing the smallholder farmer’s resilience
The sand river alliance encourages farmers to carefully select a combination of crops to be irrigated, that is informed by commercial considerations (cash crops, market opportunity), subsistence considerations (crops that can be used both for subsistence and for sale), and own experience, knowledge and preference. Given the vagaries of climate and markets, it is prudent for starting smallholder farmers “not to put all eggs in one basket”, as this enhances risks and reduces resilience. Priority setting could be informed by the relative sensitivity to crop stress and/or economic value.
Accessing and utilizing water from nature-based storage in a sustainable manner
Our irrigation solution is entirely focused on accessing and utilizing water stored in the sandy beds of sand rivers. This water remains available during the dry season when irrigation demands are highest. Sand rivers thus provide a natural form of water storage that incurs hardly any costs, both financially and ecologically. To sustainably maintain this storage system for future use, with the anticipated intensification, regular monitoring of the groundwater levels is crucial. By setting up a farmer-managed low-tech monitoring mechanism farmers learn to know the water system and its limits. As the limits of water supply may at one moment be reached, institutional arrangements need to be developed bottom-up by local groups of proximate irrigators.
Utilizing solar energy for additional purposes
Once a farming family has access to solar panels, it can also use these for purposes other than pumping, and that provide additional economic and social benefits, e.g. lighting at night (requiring a battery), charging cell phones, creating a WIFI hub, etc. This requires smart adaptations to the starter pack that suit local needs.
Following the above proposed intervention logic, irrigated farming practices can develop gradually, endogenously and self-propelled, while benefiting from the buffer potential of sand rivers. Innovative farming families will kick-start the process, assisted by local authorities, local NGOs and local knowledge institutes, make mistakes, monitor and learn: learn how best to access and exploit the water, learn which crops to grow, for which purpose (subsistence, livestock, markets, or both), which markets to target, how to improve crop yields and crop quality, how to deal with shocks other than an uncertain climate, such as markets, crop diseases and pests, and through monitoring water levels gradually learn to better know the water resource and its limits.
In tandem, other entrepreneurs are attracted to provide services to the new emerging farming families, such as well-drilling, maintenance, credit facilities, insurances, marketing, etc.
By developing lease or rent modalities the sand river alliance aims to reach more female farmers, who are usually excluded from large-scale cultivation and may not be in a position to do major out-of-pocket investments. Hence, we see an opportunity for a positive socio-economic impact for smallholder and female farmers, as well as important environmental benefits compared to conventional irrigation systems.
The Adaptive Investment Pathways AdIP concept is geared towards socio-economic development, allows for participatory or collaborative planning, and helps to guide which investments and actions to prioritise now and which to postpone until more information is available and uncertainty and risk is reduced (Prasad et al., 2023). It is inspired by the Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways concept, which was developed in a more ‘conservative’ context where societies wish to protect themselves against climate change.[2]

[1] Haasnoot et al., 2013, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.12.006