Small-scale irrigation is a climate-proof, pro-poor technology that creates employment, helps smooth seasonal shortfalls in food supply, and encourages the production of crops that support diverse and nutritious diets. But uptake has been slow, including in Nigeria, where potential is particularly large.
To accelerate small-scale or farmer-led irrigation development, a collaborative research project led by Nigeria’s Aliko Dangote University of Science and Technology (ADUSTECH) with support from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is focused on alleviating institutional/policy, financial, and market information constraints encountered by government, finance, and irrigation technology actors that strive to support smallholder farmers.
For this, the project brings government and finance actors, and technology vendors together using a human-centered design (HCD) approach to identify information constraints that could be addressed by mapping products and other tools to enable these actors to support farmers in achieving the nation’s irrigation potential.
Early results were presented in the recent session on Irrigation Technology Suitability Mapping & Tools – ARCID here.
