Ruwanmu Small-Scale Irrigation Project

The goal of this project is to raise the incomes and improve the food security of more than 455,000 poor rural people living in 30 communes within the Maradi, Tahoua and Zinder regions of Niger. Specifically, the project aims to contribute to:

• A sustainable increase in the productivity of irrigated areas, and strengthened local capacity to manage water resources
• Better transportation and marketing of products generated by small-scale irrigation.

The target group includes smallholder agro-pastoral farmers; vulnerable households with no land and no access to valley plots; grassroots producers' organizations; and rural communes implementing local development activities. The project stipulates that at least 30 per cent of direct beneficiaries should be women and 30 per cent young people involved in production or a related area, such as handicrafts, processing or marketing.