Irrigation: Research and development∗

Some main features of proceedings of a 1985 workshop are presented. In Africa, irrigation has had limited success, and there have been many costly failures. Bureaucratic ineptitude, inadequate farmer incentives and participation, and gigantism are important causes. Technical, institutional and socio‐economic constraints complicate irrigation planning and development. Hydro‐agricultural projects have political, social, economic and ‘grey area’ objectives. Various ecological effects have in the past received insufficient attention. Crop and input selection should be based on the marginal principles of scarcity. In the long run, farmer settlement should veer towards individual tenure, although mixed modes can play a useful role. Water pricing systems should be adjusted to local conditions. Research should increasingly involve existing dynamic models as well as models still to be developed.