The Smallholder Irrigation Program - Mount Kenya Region (SIPMK) focuses on smallholder irrigation development in four counties in the Mount Kenya Region. The Program is designed to achieve this by providing support for the implementation of new irrigation schemes, and by offering credit facilities to organised farmer groups. Farmers were required to take a loan equivalent to 50% of the total investment costs in their respective schemes and raise a credit security of 10% before loaning. The remaining 50% of the investment costs were provided as a grant from the Government of Kenya (GoK) to the farmers’ organization.

The overall goal of the Program is the improvement in living conditions of the farming population within the project area, reflected in an increase of net farm income of smallholder households. The associated indicator to evaluate the achievement of the project objective was an increase of cropping intensity in the irrigated areas. Cropping intensity is defined as the number of crops a farmer grows in a given agricultural year on the same plot of land. For smallholder households in Sub-Saharan Africa, increasing the cropping intensity, is a common agricultural intensification strategy. The baseline value of the indicator prior to the project activities was estimated at 166%, with a targeted increase to 220% three years after the construction of a scheme.

This assessment evaluated the performance of the indicator for the project objective in two of four schemes constructed during the third phase of the Program in Kandiu and Mitooini. The assessment combined different data sources including empirical methods as well as the review of existing information and reports. Finally, project impacts were assessed and presented quantitatively and qualitatively for agricultural and socio-economic considerations.