Agricultural experts and stakeholders across Africa and Europe have advocated for the widespread adoption of small-scale solar-powered irrigation systems among local farmers as a sustainable solution to the challenges of climate change and food insecurity in Africa.
Browsing: irrigation
ASHENEWS – Faced with scarce rainfall and excessive heat, farmers in Sokoto State are turning to irrigation methods to ensure their crops grow.
The irrigation system of farming is good for the production of all kinds of crops, especially as a system used for dry-season agriculture.
The Federal Government of Nigeria/ International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), is assisting 150 benefiting farmers in Ebonyi in dry season farming.
Kebbi state government has acquired 6,000 solar pumps and power tillers for dry season farming.
The Federal Government and Jigawa Government have expressed determination to boost wheat production to ensure food security in the country.
No fewer than 2,078 Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) have received Irrigation Equipment and Assets from the Edo state government.
Borno state governor, Babagana Zulum on Wednesday, said that his administration has initiated seven pilot irrigation schemes to boost agricultural productivity and enhance food security.
Confessionally, Katsina state is among the luckiest states to have acquired five multi-billion Naira irrigation projects littered across the state. Conservatively, these projects – Zobe, Jare, Dallaji, Sabke, and Jibia dam projects have gulped over 150 billion Naira from the Federal government in the last three decades. For instance, Zobe water supply project Phase I and II alone was appropriated N3.227 billion in the 2017 Appropriation under a budget line, FMOWR64053426. This is in addition to the “little chip in” by the Katsina state government, “now and then”. For example, in August 2003, the then-governor Umaru Yar’adua’s government allocated a princely sum of N317 million for funding a 16-kilometer supply of water from Zobe Dam to Dutsinma town. One can only appreciate the staggering huge resources allocated to these projects after going through their financial audits. These projects, like all other civil engineering projects, have lifespan whether utilized or unutilized, and it will be a colossal loss of public resources, and a disservice to the nation if they attain their lifespan without reaping the expected benefits. Katsina state government must do everything possible to derive the maximum benefits from these projects. So, the major concern is how to make these underperforming, almost abandoned projects perform excellently for the benefit of Katsina state and the nation at large.
Nostalgically, my hope of a better tomorrow for Katsina state was kindled in 2008 when I joined experts from ABU Zaria who were commissioned to make a project proposal for revamping agriculture in the state. On that note, I subconsciously dreamt of Katsina state gloriously galloping ahead of its peers at the envy of Kano and Kaduna states. The revamping project took us to all nooks and crannies of the state and dug out the actual and potential of agricultural resources littered across the state. I led the Irrigation team that appraised 25 selected irrigation schemes/projects under State and Federal Governments. The state has 36,200 ha of potentially irrigable land in the Fadama and over 10,000 ha of land that can be developed for irrigation under the irrigation projects of the Federal government for the Zobe, Jibia, and Sabke dams. Irrigation provides meaningful employment during the dry season, intensifies land use, and provides food during periods of scarcity. It is also a source of foreign exchange when food crops are exported outside the country. Additionally, irrigation prevents rural-urban migration with its consequent social ills and sure way of reducing poverty.