Low cost drip irrigation in Burkina Faso : unravelling actors, networks and practices

162 Pages·2015·2.33 MB·English

LOW COST DRIP IRRIGATION IN BURKINA FASO

Unravelling Actors, Networks and Practices

Minakpon Jonas Virgile Wanvoeke
LOW COST DRIP IRRIGATION IN BURKINA FASO
Unravelling Actors, Networks and Practices

Minakpon Jonas Virgile Wanvoeke
Thesis committee

Promotors
Prof. Dr M.Z. Zwarteveen
Professor of Water Governance
UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft &
Wageningen University
Prof. Dr C. de Fraiture
Professor of Water Resources Management
UNESCO-IHE, Institute for Water Education, Delft &
Wageningen University

Co-promotor
Dr. J-P. Venot
Senior Researcher
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
Montpellier, France

Other members
Prof. Dr P.M. Macnaghten, Wageningen University
Prof. Dr S.D. Vodouhè, University of Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Benin
Dr Y. Garb, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Dr D.J. Merrey, Natural Resources Policy and Institutions Specialist, Pittsboro, USA

This research was conducted under the auspices of Wageningen School of Social Sciences
(WASS).
LOW COST DRIP IRRIGATION IN BURKINA FASO
Unravelling Actors, Networks and Practices

Minakpon Jonas Virgile Wanvoeke

Thesis
submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of doctor
at Wageningen University
by the authority of the Rector Magnificus
Prof. Dr A.P.J. Mol,
in the presence of the
Thesis Committee appointed by the Academic Board
to be defended in public
on Wednesday 16 December 2015
at 1.30 p.m. in the Aula
Minakpon Jonas Virgile Wanvoeke
Low cost drip irrigation in Burkina Faso: Unravelling Actors, Networks and Practices
166 pages.

PhD thesis, Wageningen University, Wageningen, NL (2015)
With references, with summaries in Dutch and English

ISBN 978-94-6257-611-7
To Hermine, Herginas, Mirabel, and Fannette,
my lovely parents Simplice Wanvoeke
and Beatrice Houevoessa

Acknowledgments
I had been looking for opportunities to do my PhD for many years after having finished my
Master of Science at Wageningen University. Within ten years that passed, I got two
opportunities to do a PhD with other universities outside Netherlands. I rejected these offers
because my objective was to continue my PhD with the same university. Thus, I applied many
times for research scholarships and grants, including with the Wageningen School of Social
Sciences (WASS). However, all these efforts were in vain. I was not able to acquire the
means to fulfil my dream of doing PhD until June 2011, when I came across the Drip
irrigation Realities in Perspective project funded by NWO. It was this project that allowed me
to join the Water Resources Management Group of Wageningen University. This dream of
course only materializes after four years. It is my duty to thank all those people who have
contributed to this achievement and have assisted me during this long journey. Thus, my
sincere gratitude goes to:
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO: Nederlandse Organisatie voor
Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) for providing me funds through the Drip project to complete
this PhD. Without the funds, I wouldn't be able to complete a PhD.
Prof. Margreet Zwarteveen, you have accepted me as your PhD candidate in the Drip project
after I passed through the process of selection and a Skype discussion. I can now swear that it
was nice to work with you. As project coordinator and my promotor, you have a special way
to encourage your students to focus while doing research. This is the great thing I have learnt
from you. Despite your busy agenda, you always find time to read and polish my articles. You
have assisted me along this process and you even allowed me to relax when you saw me
exhausted and lacking ideas. Thanks very much for being there for me.
Prof. Charlotte de Fraiture, you were the first project member and my promotor I met in
International Water Management Institute office of Ouagadougou when I started this PhD in
2011. You were the one who guided me in Burkina Faso and have shown me the actors
investing in drip. Even though I was afraid about this research when I started, you had a nice
and special way to tell me ‘you will make it, you are almost there’. Your words gave me the
courage and strength to continue and not give up. Together with Margreet, you have also
played a tremendous role for allowing me to join UNESCO-IHE in Delft. This was a great
opportunity to share ideas with other water experts. I can admit at the end of the process that
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it was a good idea to bring me to Delft. This close supervision was very fruitful and has sped
up my PhD. Please receive my warm thanks and please extend this to all your colleagues of
UNESCO IHE.
Dr Jean-Philippe Venot, my French guy; you have coached me very well during this long
process. At the end, I have the feeling that you joined drip project in 2012 just for me. Being
francophone like me, you easily understood my ideas when I wrote in English. Even though at
the beginning, I found some of your questions too much, your sharp comments and
suggestions on my work were very helpful at the end. Your supervision was permanent and
constructive even after you left the project. I should admit that, without your guidance, I
would not have been able to finish this work on time. Many people start a PhD, but only very
few finish on time. I was glad to work with you and for sharing nice times with you in
Stockholm and Ouagadougou. Thanks a lot JP as we call you in the team. I wish you all the
best in your own career.
To the Drip team: Marcel Kuper, Mostafa Errahj, Harm Boesveld, Jeroen Vos, Linden
Vincent, Jaime Hoogesteger, Maya Benouniche, Saskia van der Kooij and Lisa Bossenbroek,
I won’t forget what we have shared together and the nice time we spent in Wageningen, the
Achterhoek, Delft, and Meknes (Morocco). I trust you are doing well, and I wish you all the
best. For Saskia and Lisa who will also very soon defend their thesis, I am pretty sure you will
make it. Definitively, I will miss you all but keep the light on!
To the team of the Water Resources Management Group of Wageningen University, it was a
pleasure to be working within this enjoyable and dynamic group. I was really fascinated by
this small and productive group. Thanks to Rutgerd, Alex, Flip, Gerardo, Gert Jan, Petra,
Deepa, Janwillem, Andres, Arjen, Pieter, Milagros, and Andres for having taken the time to
discuss with me anytime I approached you. Special thanks to Jaime who spent time to assist
me during the last bit of my PhD by printing and submitting this thesis while I was far from
Netherlands. To Bert, Gerda, and Maria, I owe you a lot. A simple thank you from me won't
be enough to express all you have done for me. You have contributed to making my various
trips and stays in Netherlands pleasant and successful. God bless you richly.
To UNESCO-IHE students with whom I shared ideas, Hermen, Blandine, Donald, Bignon,
Pedi, Shakeel, Marmar, Tesfay, Shahnoor, Sylvère, Daniel, Christophe, Duoc and Wied;
please consider this final outcome as source of motivation for your own work. PhD process is
punctuated by challenges but ends with joy. Be strong and patient during the process.
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I would like to express my gratitude to the staff of various organisations that have facilitated
my integration and research in Burkina Faso. Special thanks to Noufou Kanazoe and his wife
Nadine for offering me their hospitality in Ouagadougou. The fieldworks could not have been
undertaken without full collaboration of the farmers, extensions agents and translators in the
various sites. I remain very grateful for the different services you have provided to me.
I received strong support and advice from some elders:, Prof Simplice Davo Vodouhe, Dr
Paul Van Mele and Dr Dominique Hounkonnou who have all pushed me to do PhD studies
and have given me in the past the skills of investing in research for development.
To my Benin compatriots with whom I stayed in Netherlands: Elie, Florent, Augustin,
Alphonse, Yann, Latifou, Romaric, Euloge, Laurent, Edmond, Roland, Nathalie, Gerard,
Essegbenon, Guillaume, Evans, Landry, Nicodeme, Harold, Sylvain, Djalal, Souleimane,
Ozias, Charles, Waliou, Guiriguissou, Mazu, Raoul, Simon and Valerie. Your presence was a
great confidence and support. I really appreciate the solidarity we built among us.
Most of all, I want to thank my wife Hermine and my children Herginas, Mirabel and
Fannette for their constant support, patience and love. I apologize for my frequent and
sometimes lengthy absence from home. Unfortunately this is one of the PhD constraints.
Last but not least, I am grateful to my parents Simplice and Beatrice and the rest of the family
who have supported me in prayers and in various ways throughout my studies. You have
never seen me close to you for long. Please consider this thesis as your own accomplishment
and be proud of having me as your son.

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