Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP)

Aim: to integrate the smallholder sub-sector into the commercial economy through the provision of irrigation infrastructure to permit the intensification and diversification of high-value crops and to arrest negative health impacts and environmental degradation. LUSIP provided a complete package of measures empowering smallholders to benefit from access to valuable water resources. It aimed to create favourable conditions so that farmers in the lower Usuthu basin were able to commercialize their activities and develop sustainable, high-value crop production. The project invested in a large-scale irrigation system for the area. It worked to ensure that the design of the irrigation system — a complex network of dams, water reservoirs and canals — is adequately meeting the demand for water and that it responds to the needs of farmers in a cost-efficient way.
For people in the area security of land tenure and access to water for irrigation are key means to improving rural livelihoods and reducing poverty.