Rapid rural appraisal as research methodology in assessing impacts of community managed river diversions in Tanzania for the AgWater Solutions project

Rapid rural appraisal was used in the first phase of the research, which covered 5 administrative regions in Tanzania (over 200 farmers from 10 irrigation schemes). The major finding was that investing in improvements to existing community-managed river diversion irrigation schemes can lead to gains in water productivity and household income. Infrastructure improvements, coupled with a watershed management approach, farmer training, micro-credit and marketing, can make a significant contribution to Tanzania’s poverty alleviation and development goals.