From bottles to solar pumps: how Cocoa farmers in Ghana are innovating to beat water stress

Across Ghana’s cocoa belt, the rhythm of the rains is no longer reliable. Once-predictable wet and dry seasons have given way to longer dry spells, hotter harmattan months, and sudden, intense downpours. For cocoa farmers, this “climate whiplash” is not just an inconvenience; it is a direct threat to their yields, which are projected to decline by 5% in the future compared to the current period, and to their livelihoods. Prolonged water stress causes pods to shrivel, while extreme rainfall fuels outbreaks of black pod disease, making it challenging to dry beans. These extremes are already causing sharp fluctuations in output and record-high cocoa prices, underscoring the urgent need for resilient water management solutions.

Yet on the ground, farmers are not waiting passively for the water stress to affect them. From improvised bottle-based drip systems to locally managed diesel pumps in Borteykrom, they are finding ways to bring water to their cocoa farms.  Locally led innovations, such as plastic bottle-based drip, reveal an important truth: the barrier to irrigation is not a lack of willingness but access to affordable and Scalable solutions. This blog explores how farmers are reimagining water management for cocoa under water stress during dry periods, and how organizations like International Water Management Institute (IWMI) are working to turn these small, local experiments into significant, climate-resilient transformations across West Africa

Farmer ingenuity: Work with what you have

In Juaso District (Ashanti Region), four farmers have been experimenting with a low-cost drip irrigation system made from discarded plastic bottles. For nearly three years, Mr. Frank Darko has tied bottles filled with water to the stems of his cocoa trees, each with tiny holes that allow water to drip slowly into the soil. Initially, his goal was simple: to help his 11-year-old cocoa trees survive the dry season. “If the cocoa trees don’t get water, they start pulling it from the pods,” he explained. But over time, he realized irrigation also boosted his yields. On the 4 acres he irrigates, the results (323 kg/acres) are visibly better than on non-irrigated plots (184 kg/acres).

Inspired by his success, other farmers, Mr. Baah Stephen from 12-year-old cocoa farm (226 kg/acres vs. 140 kg/acres), Mr. Akwasi Mensah from 12-year-old cocoa farmer (323 kg/acres vs. 40 kg/acres), and Madam Ama Achiaa, who is a wife of from 5 year old cocoa (161 kg/acres) adopted the same method and confirmed yield improvements. Yet, all face the same challenge: irrigation is labor-intensive, requiring daily trips to fetch water and refill bottles, which limits the number of acres they can manage.

In the Eastern Region, Mr. Francis Adzalo took a similar approach, using 1-litre bottles buried at the base of 3-year-old cocoa trees. He and his wife demonstrated how they fetch water from a nearby river to fill the bottles. While effective, the method falters in the dry season when the river dries up, and the distance from their home makes carrying water impractical.

Photo (a) L: Low-cost drip irrigation systems (discarded plastic bottles) on Mr. Frank Darko’s Farm with 11-year-old cocoa, Juaso District in Ashanti Region. Photo (b) R: 1-liter bottle used to irrigate Mr. Francis Adzalo’s young cocoa trees (3 years) in Ofoase Ayirebi District of the Eastern region. Source: Esther Narh (IWMI-Intern), 2025.

Adaptation to modern irrigation technologies

Contrast these grassroots solutions with the more resource-intensive systems observed in the same regions. In Ashanti, farmer Mr. Samuel Larbi installed a diesel-powered pump to draw water from a river, covering more land but at high and unpredictable fuel expenses. The yield from a 13-year-old irrigated cocoa farm was promising, reaching 688 kg/acre compared with the rainfed farm yield of 183 kg/acre. Meanwhile, in Borteykrom (Eastern Region), a well-structured solar pump irrigation system is operational on a farm owned by Madam Bortey, a resource-rich farmer. Managed locally, this system reliably pumps water into her 18-year-old cocoa fields, reducing labor and ensuring year-round irrigation.

These diverse experiences highlight a critical insight: farmers recognize irrigation as essential to sustaining cocoa amid increasingly unpredictable rainfall. Whether using improvised plastic bottles or modern solar pumps, their willingness to innovate shows that the real barrier is not a mindset; it’s access to affordable, scalable solutions.

As climate change tightens its grip on Ghana’s cocoa belt, the ingenuity of smallholder farmers offers hope, but also serves as a reminder: without better financing, infrastructure, and support, many will remain reliant on labor-intensive, stopgap methods, while only a few will have access to sustainable technologies.

Scaling Farmer Ingenuity: IWMI’s Role in the Cocoa Belt

What these farmers are doing with plastic bottles and small pumps is the creativity that IWMI and its CGIAR partners aim to unlock and scale under the Sustainable Farming Program and Scaling for Impact program. IWMI’s work in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire demonstrates that small, well-targeted irrigation can significantly stabilize cocoa yields, even under highly variable rainfall conditions. Recent hydrological modeling in the Upper Offin sub-basin has demonstrated that shallow groundwater can be used for supplemental irrigation on up to 10% of existing cocoa farmland areas without significantly affecting groundwater resources.

To enhance decision-making, IWMI is utilizing crop-water simulation models to simulate the response of cocoa to various water regimes under current and future climate conditions. The use of crop-water simulation models improves return-on-investment analyses and supports the development of diverse financing modalities. It also enables the design of simple, water-saving irrigation schedules that deliver the right amount of water at the right time, thereby boosting yields while protecting aquifers from depletion

Building on such evidence, IWMI is advancing a climate-resilient cocoa farming agenda that focuses on:

1. Pairing affordable solar-powered pumps with appropriate water application systems so that farmers can irrigate more land with less labor and without the fuel cost volatility of diesel pumps,
2. Evaluate optimal irrigation strategies in combination with best agricultural water management practices to increase productivity and develop investable business cases for innovative water financing.
3. Co-creative water-smart finance with financial and irrigation supply chain actors, enabling resource-poor farmers to invest in irrigation by reducing the high upfront investment costs or accessing irrigation as a service.
4. Safeguarding water resources by monitoring groundwater levels and evaluating opportunities for enhanced rainwater storage and soil moisture retention to ensure irrigation growth in the region does not deplete aquifers.

IWMI helps bridge the gap between improvised survival strategies and sustainable, climate-resilient cocoa production by linking farmer ingenuity with science and finance. If more farmers can access affordable water solutions, Ghana’s cocoa belt can weather climate extremes, narrow yield gaps, and protect farmer incomes while keeping its water resources balanced.

Authors

Esther Narh, Tinashe Lindel Dirwai, Seifu A, Tilahun, Petra Schmitter

International Water Management Institute