IRRIGATION EXPERTISE

GIBB Africa Ltd has provided technical expertise related to more than 225,000 hectares of irrigation development throughout East Africa. This includes the full range of consulting services from feasibility studies through to detailed design and construction supervision.

Permanent staff, specialised in irrigation development projects, cover technical, social and institutional aspects. Recent successes include innovative interactive design process where key design activities are carried out in the field with the experienced design team in close consultation with beneficiary farmers. Sustainability of irrigation development is greatly enhanced by this process and has been carried out on smallholder as well as major schemes.

Our experience includes:

Feasibility studies and planning

• Feasibility studies covering technical, agricultural, environmental, social and institutional aspects.
• Large scale and smallholder irrigation development with a focus on beneficiary participation and sustainability issues.
• Project management of multi-disciplinary teams.
• Economic and financial analyses.
• Operations and maintenance planning and implementation.
• Soil studies.
• Agriculture and marketing studies.

Water resource evaluation

• Dam site selection, feasibility evaluation and detailed design.
• Hydrology and river morphology studies.
• Reservoir yield and inflow-outflow modelling.
• Reservoir flood routing analysis.
• Calculation of crop water requirements and gross irrigation requirements.

Detailed irrigation design and development

• Surface irrigation for rice and horticultural crops
• Sprinkler irrigation schemes for horticultural crops.
• Agricultural support infrastructure including roads, bridges and warehouses.
• Design of diversion weirs and intake works on major rivers.
• River erosion protection works.
• River training works.
• Irrigation structure design including measuring, canal and control structures.
• Design of aqueducts, river crossings and inverted siphons.
• Design of sedimentation basins, water storage ponds and in-field systems.
• Design of flood protection works, animal and domestic watering structures.
• Evaluation of construction materials.
• Detailed design and preparation of tender documents.
• Construction supervision.

Rural development

• Application of appropriate technology and low-cost approaches.
• Interactive design with beneficiary participation to maximise sustainability.
• Operations and maintenance planning and training.
• Labour based methods of construction.
• Workshop organisation and presentations.
• Formation and training of water committees.
• Formation and training of Irrigation Water Users Associations.