Small-scale irrigation Mount Kenya IV

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The Smallholder Irrigation Programme Mt. Kenya Region (SIPMK) successfully implemented groundbreaking, innovative financing approaches in three completed phases. The first three phases financed the construction of 19 irrigation systems and created around 2,124 hectares of new irrigation area, which is successfully and profitably managed by 6,088 participating households. In the fourth phase of this programme, a further five irrigation systems with a total area of 525 hectares are to be financed. This will benefit a further 1,539 households who previously produced crops using rain-fed agriculture and now have the opportunity to increase their production and income by growing crops on the irrigated land. 50% of the investment costs for the irrigation systems are borne by the farmers themselves, who are organised in cooperatives, which greatly increases their sense of responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the systems and thus the sustainability of the project. In addition to the construction of the irrigation systems, the fourth phase supports the expansion of the capacities of the participating cooperatives and their members in the areas of (i) operation and maintenance of the irrigation systems, (ii) agricultural production and marketing and (iii) management of the cooperatives. The Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation (MoWSI) is responsible for project implementation. The structures newly created at district level as part of the decentralization will also be included in the project. The project serves the core points - poverty reduction, food security, economic development and adaptation to climate change - of the Kenyan development strategy Vision 2030. A total of EUR 8 million in FC funds and EUR 1.2 million in Kenyan own funds are available for the fourth phase. The implementation phase of the project is expected to be completed in March 2025.