Pour la petite irrigation, les pompes manuelles peuvent être un important outil pour les agriculteurs des pays en développement où les pluies sont souvent irrégulières et les ressources financières gravement limitées. Dans le cadre du Programme d'utilisation d'experts pour la CTPD/CTPT, un expert des pompes à pédale des Entreprises internationales pour le developpement (IDE), une ONG du Bangladesh, s'est rendu en Zambie pour collaborer à la composante irrigation du Programme spécial pour la sécurité alimentaire (PSSA).
D. Sarkar, de l'IDE est arrivé en Zambie en juillet 1996, où il a séjourné pendant deux mois pour tester, installer et recommander différentes sortes de pompes manuelles dans diverses zones pilotes. Celles-ci se trouvaient pour la plupart dans les régions du sud des provinces occidentales et méridionales. On a acheté des pompes et du matériel et effectué un bilan hydrologique des zones pilotes couvertes par la composante irrigation du PSSA. Les agriculteurs ont accueilli avec enthousiasme la pompe à pédale du Bangladesh qui a une grande capacité de pompage et a été installée rapidement et facilement par les agriculteurs et les agents de vulgarisation. Les paysans interrogés ont confirmé qu'ils avaient pu augmenter leurs revenus grâce à l'accroissement de leur production. Des industriels locaux ont aussi reçu une formation et des efforts sont en cours pour produire sur place des pompes à pédale.
Las bombas de agua que utilizan la fuerza humana en el riego en pequeña escala pueden constituir un importante instrumento de apoyo para los productores agrícolas en los países en desarrollo donde la lluvia a menudo es errática y los recursos financieros severamente limitados. En el marco del Programa de expertos para la CTPD/CTPT, un experto en bombas de pedal de Iniciativas Internacionales para el Desarrollo (IDE), una ONG de Bangladesh, visitó Zambia como parte del componente de riego del Programa especial para la seguridad alimentaria (PESA).
El Sr. D. Sarkar, del IDE, visitó Zambia por dos meses en 1996 para probar, instalar y recomendar para varias áreas piloto los modelos más apropiados de bombas de agua accionadas con la fuerza humana. La mayoría de estas áreas se encuentran en el sur de las provincias occidentales y meridionales. Las bombas y el equipo correspondiente fueron adquiridos y se hizo una inspección hidrológica en las áreas piloto del componente de riego del PESA. La bomba de pedal de Bangladesh fue recibida con entusiasmo por los agricultores por el volumen de agua que puede bombear y por la facilidad y velocidad con que fue instalada por los mismos productores y los extensionistas agrícolas. En entrevistas con los agricultores, éstos confirmaron los ingresos adicionales generados con el incremento de la producción. Fabricantes locales también han sido capacitados y se están haciendo esfuerzos para producir las bombas localmente.
Human-powered pumps for small-scale irrigation can be an important tool for farmers in developing countries where rainfall is often erratic and financial resources are severely limited. Under the Programme Concerning the Use of Experts for Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries and Countries in Transition, a treadle pump expert from International Development Enterprises (IDE) in Bangladesh visited Zambia as part of the irrigation component of FAO's Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS). IDE is a non-governmental organization that specializes in small-scale irrigation techniques.
Although one-quarter of Zambia's land is arable, at present only 11 percent is cropped, and irrigated agriculture constitutes only a small percentage of the total agricultural area. In 1992 Zambia suffered from the drought that hit the whole of southern Africa. Many households were left with little food to eat. The SPFS was initiated in Zambia with a view to stabilizing food production and ensuring food availability. The programme emphasizes dissemination of agricultural technologies for dry conditions, namely drought mitigation and improved irrigation.
In recent years increasing numbers of Zambian farmers have started to irrigate small vegetable gardens to supplement their food supplies and income from rainfed crops. Water is simply drawn by bucket from ponds and shallow waterholes and carried to gardens in dambos or low-lying land near the water sources. This approach is very labour intensive and also contributes to the deepening of waterholes. Appropriate, low-cost irrigation technologies have the potential to increase substantially the benefits of these small gardens.
In Bangladesh, treadle pumps have demonstrably contributed to increased farmer income and food security. It is estimated that with an annual return to the user of about US$100 each, the 500 000 treadle pumps used in Bangladesh in the early 1990s accounted for one-third of the agricultural sector's total contribution to the gross national product. D. Sarkar from IDE in Bangladesh visited Zambia for two months in July 1996 to test and install human-powered pumps and to recommend suitable models in various pilot areas, mostly in the southern regions of the Western and Southern Provinces. Demonstrations on installation, maintenance and use of the Bangladesh treadle pump were conducted to test the ease with which the farmers could duplicate these activities themselves, this being a major criterion for the recommendation of one pump as opposed to another. The expert visited areas where different types of treadle pumps had been installed to check their performance.
Most of the farmers operate individually, but considerable advantages can be obtained when farmers develop and maintain an irrigation system in a joint effort. The development of irrigated agriculture needs to be implemented as a fully communal activity with the active participation of all beneficiaries.
The Bangladesh treadle pump was received with enthusiasm by the farmers because of the volume of water it could pump and the ease and speed with which it could be installed by the farmers and extension workers.
At Mungu Camp Kafue, one of the pilot areas, interviews were conducted with local farmers who stated that earlier they had had enough water but lacked appropriate water-lifting devices. The treadle pump resolved this problem. One farmer confirmed that he had made a substantial amount of money from the sale of his cash crop of only one season, showing the potential for increased earnings if farmers used low-cost irrigation pumps.
This successful experience led to a collaborative effort of FAO, IDE and the Zambian Government in training local manufacturers of the treadle pump.
Traditional bucket irrigation
L'irrigation traditionnelle au seau
Riego tradicional con cubos
The Bangladesh treadle pump replacing traditional bucket irrigation
in Zambia
En Zambie, la pompe à pédale du Bangladesh remplace l'irrigation au seau
Bomba de pedal de Bangladesh con la que se sustituye el riego tradicional con cubos en
Zambia