The Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation hosted two Net-Map Workshops on 8 and 9 October, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshops brought together a cross-section of key stakeholders involved in the small scale irrigation sector – from equipment suppliers to farm associations, to public officials. One event focused on diffusion of small-scale irrigation (SSI) technologies in Ethiopia at the Oromia regional level and the second on the national situation. The workshops help to map out influence in a network: what actors are involved in the diffusion of SSI technologies, how these actors are linked, and their level of influence on the network. The tool allows participants to explore how things are actually done, not how they should be according to policy. Belete Bantero, a Senior Transformation Agenda Specialist with the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency, said the workshop contained “important information” and was “very important and…timely.” The participatory analysis will help to identify entry points to catalyze access to irrigation technologies for smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. The activity also supports a new initiative of ILSSI that aims to strengthen the role of private sector actors in small scale irrigation.
Innovation Lab For Small Scale Irrigation
