An introduction to farmer-led irrigation

Studying African Farmer-Led Irrigation (SAFI) is a collaborative research project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID). It brings together social science researchers from the UK and irrigation scientists from the Netherlands to work with African researchers in Mozambique and Tanzania.

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, which appears to exceed the extent of all public and corporate irrigation schemes. This introductory course on farmer-led irrigation development in Africa allows you to watch the videos and follow the Powerpoint presentations online, but we have also compiled all the material into a PDF that you can download and read offline. 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 optimized to work in locations with low bandwidth.