TIARA initiative

“The solution is under our feet.” – Isaac Chavula, Tiyeni Malawi

 The Transforming Investments in African Rainfed Agriculture (TIARA) initiative is a five-year programme, led by SIWI and co-funded by the Leopold Bachmann Foundation.  It operates in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi with local and international partners, including Tiyeni, the Community Technology Development Trust (CTDT), the Farmers Association of Community Self-Help Investment Groups (FACHIG), the Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), Meta Meta, and IRHA.

TIARA addresses severe land degradation in the Zambezi River Basin, where more than half of all land is moderately degraded and 14 percent is highly degraded. This degradation reduces soil infiltration and water holding capacity, directly  affecting crop growth and food security for smallholder farmers, the “frontline managers of water.” The programme is built on three pillars:

1) Political leadership and advocacy to unlock public and private investments

2) Capacity development for scaling up sustainable practices

3) Knowledge generation and business case development, including watershed impact metrics, to catalyse finance

A key finding shared during the World Water Week session was that enhanced rain-fed agriculture can deliver six times more crop yield per dollar invested than mechanized irrigated agriculture.

Spotlight on Deep Bed Farming in Malawi

Isaac Chavula, of Tiyeni, presented Deep Bed Farming (DBF), an innovative Nature-based Solution that breaks the compacted hardpan created by conventional ridge-and-furrow farming. DBF uses permanent wide beds and deep contour furrows that capture over 90 percent of rainfall, allowing water to infiltrate, recharge aquifers, and support plant growth.

The results are striking: maize yields can increase from 2 tonnes to over 10 tonnes per hectare, and DBF is between 9 and 12 times more profitable than conventional methods.

Beyond farm-level benefits, DBF improves entire watersheds by reducing siltation, enhancing water quality, raising groundwater levels, and restoring ecosystems. A pilot Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme in the Lunyangwa watershed – with the Northern Region Water Board – is now demonstrating these wider benefits to encourage further investment.

Deep bed farming in Malawi.

Metrics for verification and attracting investments

Dr Maganizo Kruger Nyasulu (University of Oxford) emphasised the need for verifiable metrics to demonstrate watershed impacts and build investor confidence. He presented a framework covering soil health (organic carbon, soil loss), water availability (soil moisture, green water stress), and hydrological impacts (streamflow changes). These metrics can be assessed using remote sensing and modelling tools, and case studies from the Lunyangwa Basin showed how sustainable practices can measurably improve environmental conditions over time.

Panel discussion: Enabling investment and scaling

• Francis Muntali (Northern Region Water Board) stressed that investors require clarity on capital sources, expected returns, risks, and exit strategies, and encouraged governments to introduce incentives such as tax breaks and soft loans.
  • Malcolm Spence (Global Innovation Fund) underlined the importance of strong evidence – both environmental and economic – to de-risk investment and support farmer adoption.
  • McPherson Ntara (Malawian Land Resources Conservation Department) highlighted the role of coherent policy frameworks, noting the challenge of harmonizing regulations across government silos.
  • Renier Veldman (MetaMeta) discussed “supported self-supply”, a model that enables households to develop their own water sources, strengthening ownership and long-term sustainability.
  • Han Heinen (IRHA) shared community-led rainwater harvesting work in Nepal, stressing trust, local knowledge, and participatory approaches.

Concluding reflections

Alex Girard (Tiyeni) noted significant progress, including the Malawian government’s formal adoption of Deep Bed Farming. The remaining challenge lies in connecting effective on-the-ground practices with enabling policies and innovative finance to scale solutions across Africa – ultimately building resilient landscapes and communities.