In August 2025, WISE-Futures hosted the Equity Perceptions in Irrigation Care or Control (EPIC) Annual Meeting in Arusha and Moshi, Tanzania. The gathering brought together researchers, students, and practitioners from around the world to share progress, exchange knowledge, and strengthen collaboration on equitable and sustainable irrigation management. Meeting were held at MS-TCDC in Arusha and Panama Hotel in Moshi, and field visits from 18–23 August 2025.
The meeting offered a platform for partners from India, Ethiopia, the Netherlands, and Tanzania to reflect on progress made after the EPIC 1st Annual project in 2024. Updates showcased how irrigation systems are managed in different contexts, the ongoing challenges of water allocation, and the policy frameworks shaping local realities.
A distinctive feature of the EPIC project is its commitment to building the next generation of water researchers. Through its scholarship program, EPIC supports MSc and PhD students whose research focuses on equity in irrigation. At this year’s meeting, students from the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (Tanzania), IIT Delhi (India), Wollo University (Ethiopia), and IHE Delft (Netherlands) presented their research. Their contributions highlighted fresh perspectives and innovative approaches to questions of equity, policy, and practice bridging academic insight with practical realities on the ground.
Participants visited the Mtambo Irrigation Scheme in Rundugai, as well as Shiri and Ghoba springs. These field visits offered valuable opportunities to learn directly from local communities about the management and operation of irrigation systems, and the ways in which water access shapes livelihoods.
The EPIC project seeks to understand equity in irrigation. While water is life, the questions of who gets access, how much, and under what conditions often reveal deep inequalities. EPIC focuses on these questions, exploring how irrigation systems can better serve all farmers—particularly marginalized groups—and how care for shared water resources can be strengthened.