ABSTRACT
Much less has been written about managing African irrigation, though there is a consensus that managerial weaknesses are a major cause of low African performance. When weighing policy changes intended to improve irrigation performance, it becomes vital that analysts understand how African systems actually operate. Essentially management consists of an integration of diverse activities to achieve an agreed goal. In developed countries where irrigation is well established, most analysts see irrigation management as being primarily concerned with the delivery and control of water. Irrigation management is then comprised of activities aimed at optimizing the conveyance and productive use of water. The situation faced by irrigation engineers in Africa south of the Sahara requires a wider distribution of managerial effort. There are several differences. Perhaps the most basic is that field managers are supervising the installation of a technology. Successful irrigation depends upon schedules: increased flows of water that arrive on time and at predicted places.
