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Abstract
Irrigation development is a gateway to increased agricultural, water and land productivity, increased household and
national food security. However, irrigation development has been a major challenge in many developing countries,
including Zimbabwe. The launch of the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP) in 2003 ushered in new
unskilled cadres and this was followed by a reduction in area developed for irrigation from 200,000ha to
approximately 120,000ha. This was due to thefts, dilapidation, and vandalism of irrigation infrastructure. The
government made efforts to develop and bring back the 200,000ha into operational, but little has been achieved. To
assess irrigation development post FTLRP, a case study was done in Goromonzi District. Using a Trend Analysis to
assess the trend in irrigation funding, a downward trend was revealed. A Gross Margin Analysis, modeled via the
Business Coefficient Expansion Factor (BCEF) to evaluate productivity and profitability of the irrigation enterprises
showed that farmers performed below average and major irrigation crops were below the ideal BCEF threshold of
2.5, suggesting non-profitability of irrigation enterprises. An analysis on infrastructure revealed that most of it was
partially or non-functional, hence farmers reduced area under irrigation. The study also revealed non-accessibility of
training services by farmers. The study concluded that inadequate irrigation funding, low irrigation productivity, nonprofitability
of irrigation enterprises, poor cost recovery mechanisms and lack of relevant training has led to low
irrigation development. The study recommends that national governments should formulate and hold sound
irrigation development strategies and encouraged to partner with public and private institutions in defining
and implementing such comprehensive strategies for sustainable irrigation development.