Mapping the potential success of agricultural water management interventions for smallholders: where are the best opportunities?

The paper presents TAGMI, an online open-access tool using Bayesian network models to assess the likelihood of success for agricultural water management (AWM) interventions at a sub-national level. By integrating social, human, physical, financial, and natural factors, the tool evaluates the potential for outscaling three specific technologies—soil water conservation/in situ rainwater harvesting, small-scale private irrigation, and small reservoirs for communal irrigation—within the Limpopo and Volta river basins. The authors use a climate change scenario to test the robustness of these interventions and argue for the further development of Decision Support Systems and the identification of implementation best practices for poverty-constrained smallholder systems.

• The TAGMI tool employs country-scale Bayesian network models to determine the probability of success for outscaling agricultural water management (AWM) interventions at a sub-national level, integrating expertise on social, human, physical, financial, and natural factors.
• As a proof of concept, the tool was used to estimate the relative probability of success for three specific AWM technologies in the Limpopo and Volta river basins: small reservoirs for communal irrigation, small-scale private irrigation, and soil water conservation/in situ rainwater harvesting in rain-fed systems.
• The authors highlight a requirement for more generic or specific information regarding 'best practices of implementation' to ensure the successful adoption of technologies in smallholder farming systems constrained by poverty.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2015). Mapping the potential success of agricultural water management interventions for smallholders: where are the best opportunities? https://www.sei.org/publications/mapping-the-potential-success-of-agricultural-water-management-interventions-for-smallholders-where-are-the-best-opportunities/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Mapping the potential success of agricultural water management interventions for smallholders: where are the best opportunities? 2015. https://www.sei.org/publications/mapping-the-potential-success-of-agricultural-water-management-interventions-for-smallholders-where-are-the-best-opportunities/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Mapping the potential success of agricultural water management interventions for smallholders: where are the best opportunities? |date=22 June 2015 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/mapping-the-potential-success-of-agricultural-water-management-interventions-for-smallholders-where-are-the-best-opportunities/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2015mapping, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Mapping the potential success of agricultural water management interventions for smallholders: where are the best opportunities?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2015}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/mapping-the-potential-success-of-agricultural-water-management-interventions-for-smallholders-where-are-the-best-opportunities/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }