Irrigation design in Africa

The implementation and management of most irrigation schemes in Africa usually involve socio-economic components. However, these are often not fully built into the technical design, which tends to remain solely within the domain of the engineer. This book is an attempt to contribute to a perspective that allows a change in thinking about design. The focus is shifted from the purely technical aspects of the physical system to the use that people are going to be making of it. The primary criterion for a water distribution system is not so much whether a canal network performs in terms of engineering technique but whether it fulfills the needs of the end users and whether they have been consulted during the decision-making processes. Comparisons of modern and farmer-managed irrigation development in Africa suggest a close link between the physical system and social environment. Not surprisingly, the characteristics of a local society tend to determine the type of system and the use that is made of it. The contents of this book are a result of an international workshop on the design of sustainable farmer-managed irrigation in sub-Saharan Africa, which was held in Wageningen, the Netherlands, in February 1990. At the end of the workshop, eleven participants, drawing from their own and other contributions to the workshop, drafted the chapters for this book which it is hoped will bridge some of the gaps between engineering idiom, farmer language and socioeconomic concepts. Irrigation design In Africa: towards an interactive method edited by Jan Ubels and Lucas Horst 1993 115pp ISBN 92 90 81 11 02 published by Department of Irrigation Wageningen Agricultural University and available from CTA