The impact of COVID-19 and capacities of farmers in small-scale irrigation schemes in sub-Saharan Africa

Detrimental impacts from COVID-19 restrictions on households and agricultural productivity reinforce the need for resilience building and transformation in African food systems. Capitalizing on the opportunity to learn lessons from the ‘Transforming Small-scale Irrigation in Southern Africa’ (TISA) project (2013–2023), we summarize TISA’s outcomes and compare survey data on the perceived impact of COVID-19 between three schemes involved and three not involved with TISA. Overall, participating households had greater ability to manage the impacts of COVID-19. We highlight the need to build resilience in multiple interconnecting domains to enhance adaptability to crisis events that impact agricultural systems.