An empirical framework for scaling-out of water system innovations: Lessons from diffusion of water system innovations in the Makanya catchment in Northern Tanzania

Scaling-out of water system innovations such as soil and water conservation is important for increased and sustainable agricultural production. A wealth of upgraded soil and water conservation technologies such as terraces has not been widely adopted in places vulnerable to land degradation and agricultural water stress. Much focus should be on rethinking approaches for scaling-out of well-proved innovations rather than on generation of new technologies. This paper presents an empirical framework for scaling-out water system innovations at catchment level. The framework is built based on findings from studies that were conducted in the Makanya catchment in Northern Tanzania. The empirical data and information were collected through inter-related research methods entailing farmers’ questionnaire surveys and consultations with key NGOs involved in the promotion of agricultural land and water management technologies. The data collection involved 234 and 294 farmers in the first and second rounds, respectively. The framework has four stages, which are technology and community strength evaluation, partnership building, scaling-out process and uptake evaluation. Stage 1 evaluates the technology efficacy in conserving soil and water and increasing benefits, and community strength mainly in terms of social capital. Stage 2 entails partnering with the target community and change agents to champion the scaling-out process in the target community. Stage 3 is concerned with the actual innovation scaling-out process through effective pathways such as field demonstration, lead farmers and appropriate channels of communication. Stage 4 evaluates the outcome of the innovation scaling-out process. Though the framework is developed using field evidences related to scaling-out of terraces, it could be adapted to enhance scaling-out of other water system innovations.