Farmer-led irrigation is not a new concept. For decades, governments and NGOs alike have focused on engaging farmers in the implementation of irrigated agriculture and its potential to increase local food production and improve livelihoods.

Investing in projects led by the community it will serve

The focus of farmer-led irrigation is on small-scale, local, and contextual solutions to expand or improve irrigation access for farmers. The goal is to improve food security for hundreds of millions of people worldwide without the need to build large, centrally-managed infrastructure projects. Past projects have seen failure due to building infrastructure that doesn’t effectively or cost-efficiently fit the needs of local growers — the ultimate users of irrigation systems. For farmer-led irrigation to work, farmers’ needs should be understood and the needs of the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem that support them (i.e., equipment retailers, maintenance shops, micro-finance institutions, etc.).

The Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) has been doing extensive work in this area to determine sustainable irrigation solutions for smallholders that are fueled by local entrepreneurs. If irrigation is implemented in this way, all members of that larger ecosystem make enough money to provide decent livelihoods for the people involved, growers included. Equally important, the ecosystem is sustainable over the long term.

In 2020, an interdisciplinary University of Nebraska team led by DWFI received a three-year, one million dollar grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to advance sustainability and resilience around smallholder farmer irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa through entrepreneurial approaches. IFAD, an international financial institution and specialized agency of the United Nations, invests in the prosperity and resilience of rural communities throughout the world. Supporting small-scale agriculture, a proven method of poverty reduction is central to their development model.

DWFI has worked on the ground in Rwanda doing research and workshops to support smallholder irrigation since 2018. The effort builds on partnership initiatives that DWFI has undertaken around the world to enhance knowledge, foster future water and food security leaders, and develop effective techniques to sustainably manage water and increase food security.  The IFAD effort takes insights learned from DWFI’s work in Rwanda and scales them, focusing on building local capacity.

Supporting young entrepreneurs to change a community 

DWFI’s team in Rwanda is intentionally young, entrepreneurial, and nimble. Their aim is to learn from those working under extreme constraints and assist in building an organic network that connects entrepreneurs — also termed a community of practice. They work to understand how governments, NGOs, entrepreneurs, and growers work together. 

The team uses entrepreneurial tools to answer the ultimate question: “Can the enterprises supplying irrigation equipment and services to smallholder farmers do so viably and repeatedly, covering costs if they’re a social enterprise and making profits if they’re a for-profit enterprise?”

Collaborating closely with local partners, the team explores whether identified business models for providing irrigation to smallholder farmers are inclusive and sustainable within their existing markets. As well as supporting entrepreneurs working with smallholder farmers, the program shares information gained from the research with young professionals, students, and others interested in agricultural entrepreneurship.

“We’re trying to support young people, particularly entrepreneurs who have their own company or are interested in starting one, in building their technical capacity and connections while also incorporating both gender and nutrition elements,” said Nicholas Brozović, Director of Policy for DWFI, professor of agricultural economics and primary investigator for the IFAD grant. 

These research and engagement efforts lay the groundwork for pathways to scale up innovative irrigation business models. Ultimately, proposals for pilots from the project’s partners – including existing and new business models – will then be submitted for testing and potential scaling-up. While pandemic travel restrictions would appear to be a roadblock for international research, Brozović and his team have seen it as a healthy challenge. His team has leveraged online tools like YouTube, WhatsApp, and Zoom to reach a more diverse, extensive audience than they would have otherwise.