According to bank's website, the proposed project aims to increase access to climate-resilient irrigation and improve irrigation service performance in Kenya, directly contributing to the MPA's overarching objective of catalyzing rural employment growth, with targets of 60,000 hectares under new or improved irrigation, 0.8 million more and better-paid jobs, and 1.5 million people with strengthened food and nutrition security. The tentative project design comprises four components. Component 1 supports rainfed smallholder farmers in transitioning to Farmer-Led Irrigation Development through three subcomponents: awareness and demand generation (outreach campaigns, a farmer advisory tool, and a real-time project monitoring interface); a Results-Based Financing Facility that pays certified suppliers post-verification of installed systems to lower upfront farmer costs and expand supplier reach into underserved areas; and a blended finance window combining a Risk-Sharing Facility to de-risk bank lending to smallholders and irrigation SMEs with a Patient Capital Facility to support supplier expansion into thin markets. Component 2 improves the performance of existing centralized public and community-managed irrigation schemes by applying the iOF framework, piloting performance-based management contracts, building institutional capacity and professional skills, and financing targeted infrastructure upgrades — such as flow measurement and automation — explicitly conditioned on pre-defined performance milestones. Component 3 secures the sustainable water resource base through a National Irrigation Information Center integrating sensor networks and early warning systems, water governance reforms including streamlined permitting and community stewardship agreements, decentralized water access investments such as well advisory and collective storage pilots in ASALs, and transaction advisory to build a bankable pipeline of medium and large storage investments. Component 4 underpins the sector transformation agenda through policy and regulatory reform, institutional and data system strengthening, workforce development, and project coordination and learning activities that link NISIP investments to the broader MPA program.

Environmental and Social Risk: S

Total Project Cost: US$ 346.50 million 

Commitment Amount: US$ 252.00 million 

IBRD + IDA Commitment: US$ 250.00 million 

Task Team Leader: Pieter Waalewijn 

Title: Lead Water Resources Management Specialist 

Email: pwaalewijn@worldbank.org 

ADM Environmental Specialist: Haroub Ahmed Haroub 

ADM Social Specialist: Grace Muhimpundu 

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