Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa

Informal irrigation is receiving increasing attention in West Africa. In particular, irrigated urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is thriving with significant benefits for farmers and the urban populations, though it is often handicapped by water pollution which threatens public health and preve...

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Autores principales: Drechsel, Pay, Cofie, Olufunke O., Veenhuizen, René van, Larbi, Theophilus Otchere
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40705
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author Drechsel, Pay
Cofie, Olufunke O.
Veenhuizen, René van
Larbi, Theophilus Otchere
author_browse Cofie, Olufunke O.
Drechsel, Pay
Larbi, Theophilus Otchere
Veenhuizen, René van
author_facet Drechsel, Pay
Cofie, Olufunke O.
Veenhuizen, René van
Larbi, Theophilus Otchere
author_sort Drechsel, Pay
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Informal irrigation is receiving increasing attention in West Africa. In particular, irrigated urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is thriving with significant benefits for farmers and the urban populations, though it is often handicapped by water pollution which threatens public health and prevents authorities from appreciating its advantages. To integrate UPA in sustainable urban development, a multi-stakeholder (MS) process has been implemented since 2005 in a stepwise approach in six West African cities. Accra, Ghana, was the first Anglophone city where the MS process tried to facilitate strategic partnerships for an improved research-policy dialogue. The process was supported by capacity building of local stakeholders, e.g. in participatory processes management, action planning and research, and monitoring and evaluation. These activities facilitated the official recognition of the role and benefits of UPA in Ghana in various ways. An internal lesson learnt was that there are many reasons why local partners might not give every project the expected priority and that related capacity-building efforts might consequently not provide the expected incentive for partner commitment. Moreover, flexibility is required to link research, capacity building and policy dialogue through an MS process as its dynamic can vary from city to city and thus cannot follow set theoretical standards.
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spelling CGSpace407052025-02-24T06:54:18Z Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa Drechsel, Pay Cofie, Olufunke O. Veenhuizen, René van Larbi, Theophilus Otchere urban agriculture irrigated farming capacity building training stakeholders participatory management Informal irrigation is receiving increasing attention in West Africa. In particular, irrigated urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is thriving with significant benefits for farmers and the urban populations, though it is often handicapped by water pollution which threatens public health and prevents authorities from appreciating its advantages. To integrate UPA in sustainable urban development, a multi-stakeholder (MS) process has been implemented since 2005 in a stepwise approach in six West African cities. Accra, Ghana, was the first Anglophone city where the MS process tried to facilitate strategic partnerships for an improved research-policy dialogue. The process was supported by capacity building of local stakeholders, e.g. in participatory processes management, action planning and research, and monitoring and evaluation. These activities facilitated the official recognition of the role and benefits of UPA in Ghana in various ways. An internal lesson learnt was that there are many reasons why local partners might not give every project the expected priority and that related capacity-building efforts might consequently not provide the expected incentive for partner commitment. Moreover, flexibility is required to link research, capacity building and policy dialogue through an MS process as its dynamic can vary from city to city and thus cannot follow set theoretical standards. 2008 2014-06-13T14:48:14Z 2014-06-13T14:48:14Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40705 en Limited Access Drechsel, Pay; Cofie, Olufunke O.; van Veenhuizen, R.; Larbi, Theophilus Otchere. 2008. Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa. Irrigation and Drainage, 57(3):268-278.
spellingShingle urban agriculture
irrigated farming
capacity building
training
stakeholders
participatory management
Drechsel, Pay
Cofie, Olufunke O.
Veenhuizen, René van
Larbi, Theophilus Otchere
Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa
title Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa
title_full Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa
title_fullStr Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa
title_full_unstemmed Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa
title_short Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa
title_sort linking research capacity building and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban west africa
topic urban agriculture
irrigated farming
capacity building
training
stakeholders
participatory management
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/40705
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