The main takeaway from this cost-benefit analysis is that policymakers need to pay very close attention to costs of irrigation technologies and the choice of commodities promoted. Tomato, paprika and to a lesser extent cassava appear to fare well under irrigation, with gross margins large enough to cover the cost of irrigation investments studied in this report. The high returns to tomato in Malawi have been documented elsewhere in the literature, so it seems like this finding is relatively robust (Fandika, Kadyampakeni and Zingore, 2012; Kadyampakeni et al., 2015). Different irrigation technologies have different costs and cost profiles. Our findings show, unsurprisingly, that relatively inexpensive gravity irrigation generates larger BCRs than more expensive solar.
Cost Benefit Analysis of Stimulating Farmer Uptake of Irrigation in Malawi - Techincal Report
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