Participatory mapping of irrigation schemes in Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe and their value for multi-level learning

This paper analyses the capacity of participatory mapping as a multi-level learning process to identify and overcome current barriers to productivity within small-scale irrigation schemes. The analysis is based on thirteen smallholder irrigation schemes in Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, where farmers, project officers and other key stakeholders participated in informal mapping teams to map the schemes. Critically, participatory mapping translated problems generally known by stakeholders into problems that were publicly known, making their resolution a shared responsibility. Hence, problems identified at both the scheme and plot levels led to immediate responses by the farmers, irrigator organizations, and government departments, boosting farmers’ agency and confidence and renewing their sense of scheme and plot ownership. It is important that irrigation agencies prioritize participatory processes and the use of informal networks to improve farmers’ understanding of their resource and management challenges and to build their sense of ownership and responsibility for effective management of irrigation schemes.