Rethinking Agrarian Transformation in Africa: the politics of farmer-led irrigation development
- Submitting institution
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The University of Manchester
: A - Development Studies
- Unit of assessment
- 22 - Anthropology and Development Studies : A - Development Studies
- Output identifier
- 185904128
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
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- Brief description of type
- A collection of critical work
- Open access status
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- Month
- November
- Year
- 2016
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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B - SEED
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- The three components of this submission chart the rapid evolution of research on ‘farmer-led irrigation development‘ in sub-Saharan Africa. They encompass the beginning and end of a DFID-ESRC project (ES/L012391/1) on which Woodhouse was the PI. The 2017 paper in Journal of Peasant Studies (Component 1) presents the findings of initial literature review and discussions within the research team (co-authors were co-Is on the same DFID-ESRC project). It identifies the importance of the ‘farmer-led irrigation’ phenomenon, critical problems with how mainstream thinking and policy approach this and establishes a new research agenda that the project went on to investigate. The 2019 papers were published in a special issue (SI) of Water Alternatives that arose from a project workshop “Irrigating Africa – Reframing Agricultural Investment”, convened by Woodhouse in February 2018 for researchers and policy makers. Woodhouse was a member of the SI editorial team, setting up the call, reviewing and selecting papers, but, since the journal only allowed three named editors, decided these should be the younger co-Is on the project. The Introductory paper (Component 2) for the SI reflects on the rapid uptake of the ‘farmer-led irrigation’ idea by development agencies following the publication of the 2017 paper, and proposes three critical thematic areas (regulation and control, profitability, technical efficiency) around which to organise thinking and practice in this area. It also contrasts depoliticised agendas of technological change promoted by international agencies with politically-contested processes of farmer-driven change at national level. The latter is illustrated in detail by the project’s empirical analysis (Component 3) which compares narratives underlying policy with local survey data on irrigating households in Tanzania and Mozambique. The three components combined therefore concentrates extensive work from the same research project into a coherent and unified perspective on the theory and practice of farmer-led irrigation in Africa.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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