The government of Nigeria and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have inked a U.S $350,000 pact Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to promote irrigation farming in Nigeria.
FAOs Representative in Nigeria and the ECOWAS, Fred Kafeero, said the FAO would provide the money to fund drip irrigation systems at selected irrigation schemes in Nigeria.
Speaking at the signing ceremony FAOs Representative in Nigeria and the ECOWAS, Fred Kafeero, said the FAO would provide the money to fund drip irrigation systems at selected irrigation schemes in Nigeria.
The initiative would bring more youths, smallholder farmers and other vulnerable groups to engage in the production of high-value crops through the utilization of cheaper and smaller food production techniques all year round.
Nigeria’s agriculture
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Esther Didi Walson-Jack, said the TCP would add about 20 to 25 hectares of irrigated land to what the country already had.
“This will bring us closer to our target for the year 2025 which to have 270,000 hectares of irrigated land,” said Esther
Nigerian agriculture is not living up to its potential. In a system mostly dependent on the rainfed cultivation, many Nigerians face ongoing food insecurity and poverty, due in part to chronic under-investment in agriculture.
Currently, only 1% of Nigerian cropland is irrigated, meaning most farmers can cultivate their fields only during the rainy season. This also leaves farmers and food-insecure populations vulnerable to the changing and unpredictable climate. Expanding irrigation systems in Nigeria would reduce some of the risks of the current system lessening the impact of droughts that have contributed to widespread famine in the past and extending the productive growing season.
