An introduction to farmer-led irrigation course

Improving agricultural productivity is key to achieving food security, economic growth and rural employment in Africa – and irrigation plays a vital role.

In the last few years, there’s been a growing recognition of the contribution and potential of farmer-led irrigation systems. Farmer-led irrigation development appears to exceed the extent of all public and corporate irrigation schemes.

This free, online introductory course provides a summary of the many practical and policy questions which are raised by the phenomenon of farmer-led irrigation development in Africa.

The course is aimed at practitioners, researchers and students interested in finding out more about the issues around farmer-led irrigation. It can be completed at your own pace and has been optimised to work in locations with low bandwidth.

It features introductions to key concepts, interviews with farmers engaged in irrigation, practical advice and policy implications around farmer-led irrigation. Links to further reading and more information are included for those who wish to interrogate the topic more deeply.