Communal irrigation systems in South-Eastern Africa: findings on productivity and profitability

Jamie Pittock, Henning Bjornlund, Richard Stirzaker & Andre van Rooyen. 2017. Communal irrigation systems in South-Eastern Africa: findings on productivity and profitability, International Journal of Water Resources Development, 33:5, 839-847, DOI: 10.1080/07900627.2017.1324768

Significant expansion of irrigated agriculture is planned in Africa, though existing smallholder schemes perform poorly. Research at six schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe shows that a range of problems are exacerbated by poor management, with limited market linkages leading to underutilization and a lack of profit. Improving sustainability of these complex systems will require: multiple interventions at different scales; investing in people and institutions as much as hardware; clarity in governments’ objectives for their smallholder irrigation schemes; appropriate business models to enable farmers; and better market linkages.