The intended users of irrigation – larger farms or smaller farms – should have been clearer up-front and documented in the project logic. The project logic was silent on who was expected to benefit from the project. It wasn’t clear if the theory was that large and small landowners would be using the irrigation systems and transitioning to high-value agriculture or if it was expected that there would be land consolidation and that smaller landowners would benefit primarily from renting land to larger farms and/or working on larger farms. The evaluation found that there was heterogeneity across systems, but overall larger farms accounted for most of the area irrigated in the improved systems. Targeting large farmers or small farmers has significant implications for the design of the project including the irrigation systems, irrigation equipment, training, financing, and market linkages; as well as for the design of the evaluation including how surveys are designed and who is interviewed.
Lesson Learned