Success and failure factors for increasing Sub-Saharan African smallholders’ resilience to drought through water management

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of categories of policy actions (PA) with factors linked to transformation or lack of transformation.

Spheres of transformation	Category of PA	Characteristics of actions linked to transformation
Practical	Access to agricultural water and use of supplemental irrigation to meet tomorrow’s needs (PA 2, 5 and 6)	Pro-poor technologies and solutions to secure, store and use water for supplemental irrigation Access to water and water rights for poor communities and for women Land tenure integrating agroforestry Soil and water conservation Introduction of smart agriculture and equal access to seeds, credit and markets Multifunctional landscapes approaches and functioning operational and maintenance systems New technological and managerial climate information-based approaches such as crops diversification and decision-making processes focused on transparency
Political	Cross-sectoral institutional reforms (PA 7)	Decentralized policies, access to micro-loans, community-managed safety net systems and off-farm employment opportunities
Personal	Trade-offs and strong collective action in communities (PA 8)	Smallholder full participation and involvement in processes seeking to improve livelihoods and behavioural change in communities.

Figure 1. Regional distribution of publications covering Sub-Saharan Africa sub-regions during the period 2007–19. Policy actions (PA) 2, 5 and 6 relate to the practical, PA 7 to the political and PA8 to the personal spheres of action.

Figure 2. Increasing publications trend of selected policy actions in Sub-Saharan Africa during the period of 2007–19.

Table 2. Identified factors linked to success and failure in each sphere of transformation.

Sphere of transformation	Enabling factors (success)	Barriers (failure)
Practical	Investment in water conservation and affordable supplemental irrigation technologies Equal access to relevant resources Enhanced learning and exchange on best practices Functioning operational and maintenance systems Multifunctional landscape approaches integrating agroforestry Transparent farmer-centred decision-making	External technical support Inaccessibility to groundwater Inappropriate technologies and poor maintenance Poor watershed management Top-down technical interventions to the beneficiaries
Political	Decentralized cross-cutting policies Micro-credits and community-managed safety net systems Development of infrastructure Agricultural weather insurance systems Off-farm employment opportunities	Non-existing social safety nets Undeveloped road infrastructure and long distance to markets Top-down non-participatory approaches in policymaking
Personal	Farmers’ leadership in water-related projects Introducing agroforestry in existing farming systems Applying crop diversification Investments in off-farm income-generating activities Introduction of new agricultural practices and seasonal forecasts that incorporate traditional knowledge	Lack of local initiatives demonstrating benefits of innovations Lack of willingness for farmers to invest

Figure 3. Enablers that can trigger transformation in the practical, political and personal spheres.

Figure 4. Barriers that can hamper transformation in the practical, political and personal spheres.