Innovation Challenge: Unlocking the potential of existing irrigation ponds
Water scarcity is putting increasing pressure on market-oriented farmers across several Dorcas programme contexts. While some farmers have already invested in irrigation ponds, many ponds do not perform as expected. Water can be lost through evaporation, seepage or leakage, while poor design or maintenance can limit the agricultural value of the investment.
Dorcas has launched an innovation campaign to identify practical, trusted and scalable solutions that can support farmers to improve the performance and value of their existing irrigation ponds.
The focus is not on financing pond construction. Instead, we are looking for solutions that can support farmers to make better decisions, improve the performance of existing ponds and maximise the value of their investments.
The campaign builds on an innovation challenge identified during the sprint phase of the Dorcas 2.0 Water Pond innovation project. The first solutions will be piloted in Iraq, with potential to adapt and scale them in other Dorcas programme contexts, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, South Sudan and Yemen.
What are we looking for?
We are looking for innovative solutions that go beyond traditional training and awareness raising. The focus is on the systems, services, tools and relationships that can support farmers to make better pond-related decisions and achieve better outcomes from their investments.
We are particularly interested in ideas that can:
- Improve pond performance by identifying and addressing causes of underperformance and reducing water losses.
- Support better decisions about pond use, maintenance, upgrading and investment.
- Provide practical knowledge that farmers can easily access, understand and apply.
- Strengthen access to trusted technical and business support, including credible local service providers and experts.
- Strengthen farmer-to-farmer learning so farmers can learn from both successful and unsuccessful pond investments.
- Use innovative tools and approaches, including digital technologies, artificial intelligence, remote sensing and decision-support tools.
- Build partnerships between farmers, government, private sector, community actors and research institutions.
- Develop sustainable support and business models that can operate without continued Dorcas funding.
Strong ideas should be practical, realistic and scalable. We are interested not only in what farmers need to know, but in the systems and services that enable them to consistently make better pond-related decisions and improve the value of their investments.
Share your idea
Do you have a practical solution that could support farmers to get greater value from existing irrigation ponds? We invite you to share your idea through the Dorcas Water Pond 2.0 Innovation Campaign.
Submit your idea through the Dorcas Water Pond 2.0 Innovation Campaign
