The community-driven development approach is effective. Although it seems self-evident, this fundamental lesson is often overlooked and needs to be reiterated. Community involvement in planning and responsibility for O&M is a practical and cost-effective way of managing such small-scale systems. The government-enabled community ownership and capacity building approach employed by the project will be useful in other efforts to scale up agricultural development, for example in improving rural health, water supply and sanitation, and education. The project demonstrated that community mobilization combined with sustained agricultural extension services can deliver both higher rice yields and expanded irrigation areas through communities’ substantial and long-term commitment.
Northern Community-Managed Irrigation Sector Project