This study examines Namibia’s Green Scheme irrigation programme within the broader context of Africa’s agricultural development challenges. Despite agriculture’s potential to reduce poverty and drive economic growth, investment in the sector across Africa has historically declined. Namibia responded with a national irrigation investment programme aimed at improving food security, creating employment, and raising agricultural productivity. This report analyses the performance of Green Scheme projects more than a decade after their introduction, highlighting tensions between service providers, small‑scale farmers, and government, particularly around contractual and institutional shortcomings. Using concepts from institutional economics specifically coordination and trust the study evaluates the institutional conditions necessary for efficient market functioning and assesses how these dynamics affect the Green Scheme’s ability to achieve its intended objectives.