Bricolageas Innovation: Opening the Black Box of Drip Irrigation Systems

In Morocco, many farmers enthusiastically use drip irrigation. However, few drip irrigation systems conform to engineering standards. In a process they refer to as bricolage, farmers modify and adapt standard designs, thus creating their own technical standards. We document three instances of bricolage and show that it is a useful term to explain irrigation innovation processes. Through bricolage farmers adapt and modify the system to their needs, but also enter a process of gradual learning about what drip irrigation is and what it can achieve. Bricolage has led to the multiplication and diversification of drip systems, with different categories of users co-designing the nature and direction of change it provokes. Through bricolage, local actors effectively share responsibilities of the design process with engineers. The paper concludes that the fact that drip irrigation lends itself to bricolage helps explain its success as an innovation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Au Maroc, de nombreux agriculteurs utilisent l'irrigation au goutte à goutte. Pourtant, peu de systèmes de goutte à goutte sont conformes aux normes fixées par des ingénieurs. Dans un processus qu'ils qualifient de bricolage, les agriculteurs adaptent les installations, et créent des normes locales. Nous documentons trois instances de bricolage, et montrons que le terme bricolage est utile pour expliquer le processus d'innovation en irrigation. Le bricolage a permis la conception de systèmes plus adaptés aux conditions locales, mais permet aussi un apprentissage graduel de la technique, et plus généralement, d'apprivoiser le changement. Les acteurs locaux ont ainsi pris le contrôle de l'innovation et prennent des responsabilités dans des domaines que l'on pensait réservés aux ingénieurs. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.