Nigerian Government Rehabilitates 12 Irrigation Systems For Kano State Farmers
To promote all year-round farming, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has handed over twelve rehabilitated irrigation systems to farmers in Kano.
The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, at the handing over ceremony on Wednesday, noted that the recipients were farmers under the Kano River Irrigation Scheme (KRIS), saying KRIS was one of the five existing irrigation schemes being rehabilitated and expanded by the present administration.
Adamu explained that the 7,521 hectares KRIS project was executed under the Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority with funding from the World Bank-supported Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) scheme.
The minister disclosed that 25 sector-based projects, which covered a total area of 7,521 hectares, have been completed and handed over to farmers so far.
Adamu informed that in line with the principles of the TRIMING Project, Water Users Associations were supported with workers to manage the sectorial offices, for proper operation and maintenance of the irrigation systems.
The development, he added, was with the intention of empowering farming communities located around all TRIMING project irrigation schemes.
According to him, consultative meetings were held severally in all TRIMING schemes to deliberate on guidelines for Irrigation Service Fee collection, in line with the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy.
However, the minister confirmed that some successes had been recorded on the task, saying the same would be replicated in all public irrigation schemes nationwide.
Also, Adamu appealed to the River Basin Development Authorities to make certain that farmers and their associations managed the canals, drainages, roads, culverts and other infrastructure put in place for them effectively.
His words: “The contribution of Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority’s management towards the performance of the management transfer process, which is from Government controlled to farmer-managed system is impressive. This will guide future decisions of the government in transferring the management of irrigation systems from government-owned and controlled, to farmer managed systems.”
On his part, Managing Director, Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority, Maamun Aliyu, said the handing over was an opportunity for farmers to engage in all-year round farming and contribute to the socio-economic development of the country.
Also, the National Project Coordinator, TRIMING Project, Peter Manjuk, lauded the Federal Government for providing facilities for dry season farming of about 37,000 hectares in five schemes.
