Abstract
More than 550 million of the current 1.1 billion people earning less than $1-a-day earn a living from agriculture in developing countries. A revolution in water control is needed to develop and mass-disseminate new, affordable, small-plot irrigation technologies. A revolution in agriculture is required to enable smallholders to produce high-value, marketable, labor-intensive cash crops. A revolution in markets is needed to open access to markets for the crops they produce and the inputs they need to produce them. Finally, a revolution in design, based on the ruthless pursuit of affordability, is needed to harness shallow groundwater. The experiences of suppliers of treadle pumps, low-cost drip irrigation and water storage systems were examined. The wealth these technologies generated, coupled with falling prices for small diesel pumps in countries like India and China, created a suitable environment for the rapid adoption of affordable diesel pump tubewells, which in turn created vigorous water markets and expanded access to affordable irrigation water for smallholders. The combination of smallholder-centered revolutions, along with the ‘silent revolution in groundwater’ described by Llamas and Martinez-Santos (Water Sci Technol 51(8):167–174, 2005) provide new practical options for meeting the UN Millennium Development Goals on poverty and hunger by 2015.
Résumé
Sur les 1.1 milliards de personnes qui gagnent actuellement moins de 1 $ par jour, plus de 550 millions tirent leurs revenus de l'agriculture dans les pays en voie de développement. Une révolution du contrôle de l'eau est nécessaire au développement et à la propagation de techniques d'irrigation nouvelles, abordables et à petite échelle. Une révolution de l'agriculture est essentielle pour permettre aux petits propriétaires de produire des cultures commerciales de qualité, commercialisables, et générant de la main-d'œuvre. Une révolution des marchés est nécessaire pour ouvrir les marchés aux récoltes qu'ils produisent et aux investissements dont ils ont besoin au préalable. Au final, une révolution conceptuelle, basée sur la recherche acharnée du moindre coût, est nécessaire pour exploiter les eaux souterraines peu profondes. Les expériences de fournisseurs de pompes à pédales, de systèmes d'irrigation goutte-à-goutte bon marché et de systèmes de stockage d'eau ont été analysées.
Couplée à la chute des prix des petites pompes diesel dans des pays comme l'Inde et la Chine, la richesse générée par ces dispositifs a constitué un environnement favorable à l'adoption rapide de puits tubés bon marché avec pompes diesel. Ceci a entraîné l'établissement de marchés de l'eau résistants et la démocratisation de systèmes d'irrigation bon marché pour les petits propriétaires. La combinaison de révolutions centrées sur les petits propriétaires et de “la révolution silencieuse des eaux souterraines” décrite par Llamas et Martinez-Santos (Water Sci Technol 51(8):167–174, 2005) génère de nouvelles alternatives fonctionnelles pour atteindre les objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement des Nations Unies contre la pauvreté et la faim en 2015.
Resumen
Más de 550 millones de las 1.1 mil millones personas que actualmente ganan menos de US $1 al día, se ganan la vida trabajando en agricultura en los países en desarrollo. Se necesita desarrollar una revolución en el control de agua y unas nuevas tecnologías económicas, de irrigación para parcelas pequeñas. Se requiere una revolución en la agricultura que les permita a los propietarios de minifundios producir cosechas con alto-valor, comerciables y cuyo intenso trabajo se transforme en dinero efectivo. Se necesita una revolución en los mercados, que abra el acceso a los mercados para las cosechas que ellos producen y para las entradas que ellos necesitan para producirlas. Finalmente, se necesita una revolución en el diseño, basado en la búsqueda sin descanso de accesibilidad, para aprovechar el agua subterránea poco profunda. Se examinaron las experiencias de proveedores de bombas del pedal, de irrigación por goteo económica y de sistemas de almacenamiento de agua. La riqueza que estas tecnologías generaron, junto con los precios descendentes para las bombas pequeñas de diesel en países como India y China, crearon un ambiente conveniente para la adopción rápida de bombas diesel económicas para pozo, que a su vez creó mercados de agua vigorosos y expandieron el acceso al agua de bajo costo para irrigación, a los propietarios de minifundio. La combinación de revoluciones centradas en el propietario de minifundio, junto con ‘la revolución silenciosa en agua subterránea’ descrita por Llamas y Martinez-Santos (Water Sci Technol 51(8):167–174, 2005), dan nuevas opciones prácticas para lograr las Metas de Desarrollo del Milenio de la ONU, en cuanto a pobreza y hambre para el año 2015.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bielenberg C, Allen H (1995) How to make and use the treadle irrigation pump. IT Publications, London
Chapin Living Waters Foundation (2006), http://www.chapinliving waters.org/. Cited January 2006
Heierli U, Polak P (2000) Poverty alleviation as a business: The market creation approach to development: A study. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Berne, p 111
Indian Water Resources Society (1999) Water: Vision 2050. New Delhi, India, p 74
Kay M, Brabben T (2000) Knowledge Synthesis Report No. 1, Treadle pumps for irrigation in Africa. International Programme for Technology and Research in Irrigation and Drainage, Rome
Keller J, Ray JN, Keller A, Luo X, Yoder R (2005) New low cost irrigation technologies for small farms. In: Proceedings of the 19th International Congress on Irrigation and Drainage Beijing, China, September 2005, p 5
Keller J (2002) Evolution of drip-micro irrigation: Traditional and non-traditional uses. In: Keynote address at the International Meeting on Advances in Drip/Micro Irrigation, Spain
Keller J, Adhikari D, Peterson M, Suryanwanshi S (2001) Engineering low-cost micro-irrigation for small plots. International Development Enterprises India, New Delhi, Report 12
Llamas MR, Custodio E (eds) (2003) Intensive use of groundwater. Challenges and Opportunities. Balkema Publishers, The Netherlands, p 478
Llamas MR, Martinez-Santos P (2005) Intensive groundwater use: A silent revolution that cannot be ignored. Water Sci Technol 51(8):167–174
Lipton M (Lead Scholar) (2001) Rural poverty report. International Fund for Agricultural Development
Nanes R, Calavito L, Polak P (2003) Report of feasibility mission for smallholder irrigation in Bangladesh International Development Enterprises, 10403 W. Colfax, Lakewood, Colorado 80215, USA
Orr A, Islam ASM Nazrul, Barnes G (1991) The treadle pump: Manual irrigation for small farmers in Bangladesh. Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service, Dhaka
Perry E, Dotson B (1996) The treadle pump: An irrigation technology adapted to the needs of small farmers. GRID issue 8. http://www.hrwallingford.co.uk/projects/IPTRID/grid/g8tread. htm. Cited 2005
Polak P (2005a) Water and the other three revolutions needed to end rural poverty. Water Sci Technol 51(8):134–143. IWA Publishing, London
Polak P (2005b) The big potential of small farms. In: Scientific American Special Issue, Crossroads for Planet Earth, pp 84–91
Polak P, Adhikari D, Nanes B, Salter D, Surywanshi S (2004a) Transforming access to rural water. In: Moriarty P, Butterworth J, Van Koppen B (eds) Beyond domestic: Case studies on poverty and productive uses of water at the household level. IRC International Water and Sanitation Center, Delft, The Netherlands, pp 153–172
Polak P, Edesess M (1992) Progress report on technologies to decentralize processing of Brazil nuts to the gathering point. Prepared for the Xapuri Rubber Tappers Co-op
Polak P, Keller J, Yoder R, Sadangi A, Ray JN, Pattanyak T, Vaidya S, Bembalkar N, Chepe S, Singh D, Bezbaruah P (2004b) A low-cost storage system for domestic and irrigation water for small farmers. International Development Enterprises
Polak P, Nanes R, Adhikari D (1997) A low-cost drip irrigation system for small farmers in developing countries. Water Res Bull 33(1):119–124
Postel S, Polak P, Gonzales F, Keller J (2001) Drip irrigation for small farmers. International Water Resources Association. Water Int 26(1):3–13
Ravallion M, Chen S (1997) What can new survey data tell us about recent changes in distribution and poverty? World Bank Economic Rev 11(2):357–382
Reardon T, Timmer CP, Barrett CB, Berdegue J (2003) The rapid rise of supermarkets in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Am J Agric Econ 85(5)
Sachs JD (ed) UN Millennium Project (2005) Investing in development: A practical plan to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Earthscan, New York
Salter D, Nguyen Van Quang (1998) Coconut processing in the Mekong Delta. Intermediate Technology Food Chain
Sauder A (1992) International Development Enterprises evaluation of marketing appropriate technology Phase II. Canadian International Development Agency
Shah T (2004) Water poverty and economic development: Cross-country analysis and implications for policy reform. In: Proceedings of the Stockholm Water Conference, August 2004
Shah T, Alam M, Kumar MD, Nagar RK, Singh M (2000) Pedaling out of poverty: Social impact of a manual irrigation technology in South Africa. International Water Management Institute
SOMRA-MBL (2003) Research on the Marketing Appropriate Technology Program for Treadle Pumps in Bangladesh (1984–2002)
Verma S, Tsephal S, Jose T (2004) Promoting Micro-Irrigation in India: Lessons from Maikaal. IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Alison Sides, Communications Manager, and the rest of the IDE-International staff members for their assistance and review of this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article incorporates material previously published in Water Science and Technology, volume 51, issue number 8, pages 133–143, with permission from the copyright holders, IWA Publishing.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Polak, P., Yoder, R. Creating wealth from groundwater for dollar-a-day farmers: Where the silent revolution and the four revolutions to end rural poverty meet. Hydrogeol J 14, 424–432 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-005-0011-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-005-0011-2