Over a four year period, the Kenya Smart Water for Agriculture Programme (SWA) will promote market-led water management solutions to support 20,000 farmers in five counties to increase their yields without increasing their costs. By using less water and energy to decrease their input costs, these small and medium-sized entrepreneurial (SME) farmers are expected to increase the income and profitability of their farms. Developing a sustainable market for such products by enabling private sector business growth is also an important objective. Therefore the programme will support the development of 'Smart Water' products, processes and services which are financially accessible to SME famers, in particular women, and which facilitate off-season production.

Project Results

Managed by SNV Kenya, the project will be implemented in consortium with Aqua for All, MetaMeta, Practica and KIT (Royal Tropical Institute), and will focus on the following initiatives: •Establishing Irrigation Acceleration Platforms that engage and foster collaboration between farmers, suppliers and other stakeholders. •Improving the accessibility to and adoption of Smart Water products and services by SME farmers, including an increased range of climate-adaptive and profitable smart water options. •Support for better access to finance for SME farmers so they can invest in Smart Water solutions. •Increasing access to information about Smart Water solutions, to encourage demand and to support a viable market that is attractive to the private sector. •Brokering business linkages between Kenyan and Dutch companies to catalyse investment in Smart Water services, processes and products scaled for SME farmers.