14/06/2026
A lift irrigation system can fail in many ways. It can fail if it needs repair but no one knows who will repair it. It can fail if no one knows who will pay for the next breakdown. It can also fail if it can’t convert water into reliable income.
Over recent weeks in Surkhet, Karnali Province, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), under the CGIAR Policy Innovations and CGIAR Scaling for Impact, facilitated ward, municipal, and provincial discussions with farmers, water user communities, local governments, provincial agencies, NGOs, and private sector actors, to particularly discuss the prospects of lift irrigation.
The consensus was simple - Nepal can now build the infrastructure for lift irrigation at scale, but there are questions regarding models of sustainable, long-term adoption, and the enabling environment that could create this.
Field evidence has shown that sustainable adoption depends on more than technology. At the moment, lift schemes struggle after installation due to unclear roles, limited service models, and weak linkages to agriculture and markets. Communities are willing to engage, local governments want to act, and the private sector is interested—but responsibilities, risks, and returns need to be clearly defined.
This is where partnership approaches come in, and the Public–Private–Community Partnership model fits the ask well. With a clear framework, PPCPs can bring together various actors to ensure that preventive maintenance is done on time, local repair capacity is strengthened, realistic financing is provided for, and much stronger links between irrigation, agriculture and markets are created.
