The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small-Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) project aims to benefit farmers of Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania by improving effective use of scarce water supplies through interventions in small-scale irrigation. It is a part of the U.S. Government’s Feed the Future Initiative. The project is led by the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture at Texas A&M University. The four major project components are:

• Identifying promising, context appropriate, small-scale irrigation interventions, management and practices for poverty reduction and improved nutrition outcomes;
• Evaluating production, environmental, economic, nutritional, and gender impacts, trade-offs, and synergies of small-scale irrigation technologies and practices;
• Identifying key constraints and opportunities to improve access to small-scale irrigation technologies and practices; and
• Capacity development and stakeholder engagement.

IFPRI’s activities in this project include:

• Collection of baseline and endline data and analysis of gender, nutritional and health impacts of small-scale irrigation technologies. 
• Assessment of production, environmental, and economic impacts of promising small-scale irrigation technologies
• Assessing potential for upscaling of small-scale irrigation technologies to the national levels for Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania

Key research questions