Agricultural Community Engagement and Performance of Irrigation Projects in Rwanda: A Case of Nasho Irrigation Project in Kirehe District

The primary purpose of this research was to evaluate the impact of agricultural community engagement on the performance of the Nasho Irrigation Project in Kirehe. The specific objectives of this research comprised to assess the effect of community participation on performance of Nasho Irrigation project in Rwanda, to examine the effect of livelihoods of farmers on performance of Nasho Irrigation project in Rwanda, to determine the effect of capacity building on performance of Nasho irrigation project in RwandaThis is descriptive research in terms of its design, which used the quantitative method alone with quantitative data that was collected with the help of a questionnaire and interview guide. For the case of this research, the target population was comprised by 246 registered members of Nasho irrigation project stakeholders, giving 148 respondents as sample size as per the attached Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table in the appendices. This study used both simple random and census method to select 148 respondents who had equal chance to participate in this study by providing quantitative data regarding agricultural community engagement and performance of Nasho Irrigation project. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS version 22 to perform inferential statistics such as correlation and regression analysis, and descriptive statistics such as SD and mean were used.  The findings of this study focused on the effect of community participation, farmer livelihoods, and capacity building on the performance of Rwanda's Nasho Irrigation project. Descriptive statistics indicated a positive perception among respondents, with mean scores ranging from 4.417 to 4.637 for capacity building, 4.438 to 4.500 for farmers' livelihoods, and 4.452 to 4.520 for community participation. The correlation analysis showed strong positive relationships between these factors and performance indicators, with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.928 to 0.990. Hence, the study emphasizes the significance of engaging the community, improving farmers' livelihoods, and implementing effective capacity building to enhance food security, market expansion, and profitability in the Kirehe District. Based on the research findings, the investigator recommends strengthening community participation, supporting farmers' livelihoods, enhancing capacity building, fostering collaboration, implementing monitoring and evaluation, emphasizing sustainability, encouraging research and innovation, conducting awareness campaigns, addressing challenges promptly, and considering replication and scaling for the successful Nasho Irrigation project in Rwanda. Keywords: Agricultural Community Engagement, Performance of Irrigation Projects, Nasho Irrigation Project, Kirehe District, Rwanda