1.1 What do I want to achieve from this investment?

Return to Main Menu | Return to Step 1 | Next Step Before you can make decisions on your irrigation infrastructure investment, you need to know what you want to achieve. To make good decisions, you need to have clear objectives or goals. The goals can be related to economic, environmental or social considerations or a combination of these factors. Economic goals may concentrate on increasing productivity to achieve better returns while reducing labour inputs. Social goals can be related to lifestyle issues, such as getting a good night's sleep without chasing water. Environmental goals may relate to the reduction of run-off and deep drainage.

Examples of goals you might consider:

• You want to reduce your water usage, to reduce your water bill;
• You want to reduce your farm's labour requirement, so that you can comfortably run the farm by yourself; or
• You want to stop irrigation run-off from the farm, to save water and to prevent river pollution.

It is important to reflect on your goals and consider whether these goals are relevant to your decisions to invest in irrigation infrastructure. At this stage, it is important to know if the goal(s) fit within your long-term business goals.

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