The Irrigation Development Support Project (IDSP) is an infrastructure development project that is funded by the World Bank (WB), the Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) and the Private sector at a total cost of US$202 million. World Bank Credit: US$115 Million GRZ contribution: US$ 23 Million Private Sector Contribution: US$63 Million The IDSP was implemented under the Ministry of Agriculture as the implementing agency while the day to day management of the project is management has been done by the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) the is headed by the National Project Coordinator. The project effectively commenced in November 2011. The original closing date was December 15th, 2028, but following successful restricting it was extended to November 30th, 2020, and further extended to November 2024. The original project development objective (PDO) was to “increase yields per hectare and value of diverse products marketed by small-holders benefitting from investments in irrigation at selected sites served by the project”. This has been revised to, “To provide improved access to irrigation services in selected sites in the recipient’s territory”.

The IDSP has been implemented at three sites, namely Lusitu in Chirundu District of the Lusaka province, Mwomboshi in Chisamba District of the Central province and Musakashi in Mufulira of the Copperbelt province. Additionally, IDSP under the Investment Support Fund (ISF) sub-component, had funded 13 sub-projects from five (5) public institutions namely; Zambia National Service (ZNS), Zambia Correctional Service, Zambia Police Service, Zambia College of Agriculture in Mpika and the Zambia Centre for Horticulture Training (ZCHT). The IDSP had developed about 9, 400 hectares of land at its three sites and 11 farms under the Public Institutions..