Landscape analysis: A design tool for sustainable irrigation development

By taking the proposed smallholder South-West Kano irrigation scheme as a case study, this article illustrates that designing sustainable irrigation schemes requires knowledge of the present landscape and insight into the demands of the society on the environment at present and in the future. First, the effects of irrigated rice production on farming households in four existing irrigation schemes in the Kano Plains in Kenya are evaluated. Second, a landscape analysis is applied to the South-West Kano project area to evaluate the uses and functions of the current landscape. The design criteria formulated from the perspective of these two evaluations form the basis of an assessment of four options of irrigation development in the South-West Kano project area. As socio-economic processes are reflected in the landscape, landscape analysis can be instrumental in visualizing and quantifying data not easily grasped otherwise. It may thus help to make discussions between farmers and engineers more concrete and to the point.