SNV launches guide for Farmer-Led Irrigation Development

Today, the SNV Smart Water for Agriculture (SWA) project launches the publication "Accelerating Farmer-Led Irrigation Development - Theory and Practice of the Smart Water for Agriculture project in Kenya".

The publication was developed by the SWA project to support companies which are interested in FLID, in order to increase their sales of relevant irrigation technologies or services, as well as encourages NGOs and government agencies to support interventions that could accelerate FLID development in SSA and elsewhere.

The publication introduces the concept of Farmer-Led Irrigation Development (FLID), a silent revolution happening in smallholder irrigation development across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and highlights its practice in Kenya. It provides an analysis of the main driving forces of FLID, reviewing the key developments throughout Africa over the past two decades, and showing key processes involved to inform future FLID development. It also details how the project understands FLID and how it has shaped its intervention strategies to actively engage with the sector.

The publication also provides practical guidelines for those interacting with farmers and facilitating and supporting FLID on the ground with the systematic selection, design and implementation of relevant Smart Water Solutions (SWS). Considering these guidelines while designing programmes is expected to help practitioners ensure that their work matches farmer needs and continues to stimulate the farmer initiated development process.