Bridging the gap: Unlocking intermediary bottlenecks for small-scale irrigation through human-centered design in Nigeria

In Nigeria, rainfed agriculture supports over 90% of agricultural production. Yet—as in the rest of Africa— farmers using this approach face increasingly erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells, and extreme weather events. Small-scale irrigation (SSI) has emerged as one of the most promising and potentially transformative solutions to this problem, reducing the uncertainty over rainfall while simultaneously unlocking agricultural productivity. Evidence suggests that SSI technologies significantly increase yields, extend growing seasons, and enable diversification into high-value crops, helping to alleviate poverty.