Understanding how irrigation water infrastructure works for sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems

The Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures focuses on advancing sustainability research and connecting it with the policy debate around how humans can live in a more sustainable way.
grantham.sheffield.ac.uk

We are recruiting Scholars who will combine outstanding intellect with a strong commitment to public engagement, leadership and action. These ambitious individuals will complete interdisciplinary PhD research projects to help solve the challenges of sustainability. They will be supported by the Centre through a unique training programme, designed to equip them with the skills to become policy advocates and leaders in sustainability matters.
http://grantham.sheffield.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Grantham-Scholars-training-brochure.pdf

Your application for this studentship should be accompanied by a CV and a 200 word supporting statement. Your statement should outline your aspirations and motivation for studying in the Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures. You should also outline any relevant experience and interests that you have in sustainability issues.

Please select ’Standard PhD’ and the ’Department of Geography’ which is where the lead supervisor is based. Fill in the title of your desired project and the name(s) of the supervisors. The starting date of the PhD will be the start of the next academic year - 1 Oct 2018. The ’Funding stage’ on the form will be ’project studentship’.

For academic enquiries, please contact Frances Cleaver ([Email Address Removed]).

This research addresses the need to better understand how small scale irrigation infrastructure can contribute to securing sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems in rural areas of Africa.

The research adopts an inter-disciplinary approach linking human geography and development studies perspectives to those of engineering.

It assumes that both irrigation infrastructure and institutions are subject to processes of adaptation and improvisation by engineers, water operators and water users. Such processes result in uneven outcomes but also provide opportunities for facilitated interventions and progressive change in society.

The research will use mixed methods to address the following questions:
• Emergence of infrastructure: How do irrigation systems emerge through experimental practices of infrastructure design, construction, operation and extension?
• Effects of infrastructure: What are the effects of these practical adaptations on institutions, livelihoods, and on ecosystem functioning?
• Progressive change through infrastructure: How do these adaptations constrain or enable intervention pathways?

Smallholder irrigation holds considerable promise for enhancing food security and reducing rural poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. However there are inefficiencies and inequities in the ways in which irrigation systems work, resulting in limited access and depletion of ecosystem functioning.

Recently, policy has focussed on building institutions such as irrigators associations, and on establishing water rights regimes. Conversely, there has been a relative neglect of infrastructure and its effects. Engineering approaches to irrigation focus on designing optimal solutions which often work differently than intended. Social scientists highlight power and the unequal social relations which shape irrigation systems. Relatively few studies take a combined socio-technical approach, a gap which this research aims to fill.

The researcher will combine methods to produce extended case studies of smallholder irrigation systems, preferably building on existing research carried out in Zimbabwe. Methods are likely to include:

• Engineering approaches: (reconnaissance visits, mapping, water flow measurements, yield measurements) to get detailed insight into the form, lay-out, and functioning of the water infrastructure.

• Social science approaches:(in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observation) to investigate infrastructure practices of engineers, operators and users.

A document review will enable comparison between the intended design and actual infrastructural configurations.

A household survey will identify the winners and losers from infrastructure access

Participatory methods (mapping, facilitated dialogue) will be used to identify possibilities for future adaptations.

The successful candidate will have strong social science skills and a solid grounding in water engineering processes and concepts. Regional knowledge and fieldwork experience would be advantageous. There is considerable scope for the candidate to develop this project according to their interests.