Smart Water Solutions for Enhanced Livelihoods and Profitable Agribusiness
- Author
- MetaMeta, PRACTICA, SNV, WUR
- Language
- English
- Expertises
- Irrigation
The Smart Water for Agriculture project has contributed to the uptake of smart water solutions by 7,500 Kenyan farmers between 2016 and 2019. As a consortium we have described the approach, challenges and achievements of the project in three publications:
– Inclusive finance and business strategies for farmer-led irrigation development
– Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Farmer-Led Irrigation Development
– and the publication available here: Smart Water Solutions for Enhanced Livelihoods and Profitable Agribusiness
Through the publications we hope to contribute to increased insights and effective support strategies for farmer-led irrigation development.
The main lessons learnt described in the Smart Water Solutions paper are:
– The combined farmer-led and market-based approach facilitated supply-demand interactions, which helped farmers to provide feedback that was integrated into technology development and adaptation to local needs and context. This, in turn, contributed to further demand for the technologies.
– Demos where the technology suppliers took the lead in their establishment and operation were more impactful than those run by the project team. These gave technology suppliers ownership and more direct access to farmers and ensured a short-cycle feedback mechanism.
– NGOs can make a contribution to irrigation development by increasing the quality and accessibility of information and disseminating it in an easy-to- understand format.
