User:Craig-wff/Farmer-led irrigation

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Farmer-led irrigation (FLI) is when farmers drive the expansion of irrigated agriculture, and influence major aspects of irrigated agriculture design and implementation – such as the selection of technology, financing, operation, and maintenance [cite]. Farmer-led irrigation is practiced globally, and commonly characterized as small-scale, on-farm, locally relevant, and market-oriented[cite]. It is different than public sector-led irrigation, which is typically large-scale and managed by the public sector.

Millions of small-scale farmers face significant challenges, including food and water insecurity, dependence on unpredictable rain, and increasing frequency of natural disasters[cite]. Proponents of farmer-led irrigation argue that farmer-led irrigation may help small-scale farmers by supporting on-demand and reliable sources of water, stabilizing and increasing incomes, and empowering farmers, families, and communities[cite].

Proponents of farmer-led irrigation also state that a substantial portion of irrigation expansion must be farmer-led in order for it to be most effective and enduring. This means that the technology, practice, financing, operation, and maintenance needs must be determined by the farmers directly impacted by the irrigation system[cite].

Definitions
According to the Joint Declaration Supporting Inclusive and Sustainable Farmer-led Irrigation[cite], “the term farmer-led irrigation is used to denote the introduction of irrigation technology by farmers themselves in contrast to public sector-led irrigation. Other terms to describe similar or equivalent approaches to irrigation include: distributed, individual, private or small-scale irrigation.”

Potential impacts
Farmer-led irrigation is built on the belief that farmers should have agency and autonomy over decision making related to irrigation development and implementation[cite]. Scaling up the farmer-led irrigation agenda may yield numerous benefits and explicitly aims for the following objectives:


 * Increasing agricultural productivity and diversity;


 * Creating employment opportunities;


 * Strengthening climate and water resilience;


 * Boosting inclusive economic growth;


 * Stabilizing social and political systems;


 * Improving sustainable groundwater management;


 * Empowering women, youth, and vulnerable communities.

Relevance to international commitments
Proponents of farmer-led irrigation argue that it is well-suited to help tackle complex global issues, and improve efforts to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – through enhanced nutritional security; dietary diversity; maternal and child health; and other positive public health impacts[cite]. Proponents of farmer-led irrigation argue that public systems alone cannot reach the millions of farmers living in poverty that need immediate support[cite].

International organizations have supported programs that apply the farmer-led irrigation approach to multiple locations worldwide. For example, the Farmer-led Irrigation Initiative is a joint initiative of the World Bank, IFC, AGRA, AfDB, and the Chicago Council on Global Affairs[cite]. The farmer-led irrigation initiative supports the belief that agricultural water management is an important element of equitable and sustainable agriculture, especially in the context of increasing environmental challenges [cite]. The farmer-led irrigation is particularly relevant to sub-Saharan Africa (SSA); access to irrigation water services is limited in SSA, which hinders the efficacy and effectiveness of other agricultural productivity enhancing initiatives such as investments in seed technology [cite].

Farmer-led irrigation in Rwanda
Many farmer-led irrigation programs in Rwanda form part of Government of Rwanda (GoR) food security initiatives that employ a variety of technologies, such as multiple types of pumps, water distribution technologies, and surface open systems used in rice marshlands [cite]. The three types of farmer-led irrigation operations typically in practice include hillside irrigation, marshland irrigation, and small-scale irrigation [cite]. The irrigation schemes range from small to large scale, with water sources such as lakes, rivers, groundwater sources, and water harvesting [cite]. Farmer-led irrigation developments are often transferred to cooperatives and irrigation water user associations (IWUAs) after signing trade agreements [cite].

An example of commercial farmer-led irrigation in Rwanda includes a farmer-led irrigation practice in Ndego sector, District of Kayonza, Eastern Province that is owned by BRAMIN Corporate Ltd. BRAMIN is a brewery in Rwanda that uses mechanized and irrigated maize farming, which is a joint venture private company between BRALIRWA and MINIMEX, the leading maize milling company in Rwanda [cite]. The farm area under irrigation amounts to about 450 ha. The farming operations objective centers around increasing the quality and availability of maize in Rwanda [cite].

Farmer-led irrigation in Ghana
Many famer-led irrigation practices (often called informal irrigation) exist in Ghana [cite]. Farmer-led technologies popularly employed in Ghana are characterized by the use of small motorized (diesel and petrol) pumps; the use of large diesel and electric pumps; water-fetching from shallow dug wells with buckets, watering cans, and other containers; pumping of groundwater from deep wells and boreholes into overhead tanks for gravity-based distribution on farms[cite]. Farmer-led irrigators in Ghana typically grow high-value horticulture crops and green maize and rice[cite]. The largest regions with farmer-led irrigation include the Upper East region, the Northern Region, and the Western Region (respectively).