Irrigation-nutrition linkages under farmer-led and public irrigation schemes in Kenya

Though the suggested pathways of achieving nutrition through irrigation are production, income, water sanitation and hygiene and women’s empowerment, the linkages to nutritional outcomes are not understood well and often, nutritional measurement approaches neglect the households’ most vulnerable members; women and children. This study took the standpoint that irrigation is diverse and different irrigation arrangements (i.e. socio-technical set-ups in which irrigation takes place) affect household nutritional outcomes through different pathways. Using a simultaneous equation model and data from Kenya, the results showed that the different irrigation arrangements have different nutrition-outcome pathways. The results revealed that overall irrigation affects production diversity, farm income and women empowerment and nutrition-outcomes were improved through production diversity and income pathways. The farm households in the public irrigation scheme arrangements attained better nutritional outcomes only through the women empowerment pathway while it affected production diversity pathway negatively. The farmer-led irrigation arrangement was found to positively affect farm income and women empowerment and these two pathways were found to lead to improved household nutritional outcomes. Consequently, there is need for specific policy interventions based on irrigation arrangements as opposed to a unilateral policy encompassing irrigation.