Experts Recommend New Land Administration Method to Boost Irrigation Agriculture
Folalumi Alaran in Abuja
A report on irrigation agriculture practices in Nigeria has recommended the adoption of a semi-formal land ownership and administration method to boost land use and agricultural production in Nigeria.
The publication tagged: “Learning by Doing! Action Research Experiences from TRIMING Project in Nigeria’s Public Irrigation Schemes,” was released in Abuja at a two-day workshop organised by Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING), a World Bank-funded federal government initiative.
The publication, compiled by the Research Panel of Experts (RPoE) assembled by TRIMING, is the synthesis and highlight of the research reports and outcomes from the five research projects funded by the TRIMING Project.
The action research is aimed at advancing the course of irrigation farming in Nigeria and to address challenges in agricultural production and its value chain.
The research projects were carried out between 2017 and 2023 in the five target schemes, namely: Hadejia Valley Irrigation Scheme (HVIS); Middle Rima Valley Irrigation Scheme (MRVIS); Bakolori Irrigation Scheme (BIS); Kano River Irrigation Scheme (KRIS); and Dadin Kowa Irrigation Scheme (DKIS).
“The semi-formal land administration method was socially acceptable, transparent, pro-equity, effective, cost efficient, sustainable, and the farmers in both formal-government land area and informal-customary were willing to adopt it; hence a high possibility that it will be adopted for implementation of land consolidation in DKIS,” the experts said.
The two-day engagementwas declared open by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack.
Speaking, Walson-Jack disclosed that the federal government had initiated advocacy programmes targeted at enhancing host communities’ understanding of the projects in order to deepen their participation and ownership of completed water projects.
She listed some of the benefits expected from the workshop to include best practices identification, capacity building, networking and collaboration, and policy recommendations.
She told the participants that the success of the workshop depended on their active participation, engagement, and commitment to the shared goal of enhancing agricultural productivity.
“Let us leverage this platform to learn from our collective experiences and chart a course for a more prosperous and sustainable future for irrigation in Nigerian agriculture,” she added.
TRIMING’s National Project Coordinator, Mr. Peter Yakubu Manjok, said the workshop was planned, among other things, to discuss the sustainability issues relating to the research finding and recommend action.
He noted that it was meant to promote community ownership of the research outcomes and plan for advocacy programmes for upscaling the promising research results by relevant institutions.
