By Prof. M. K. Othman
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.
The Zobe Irrigation Scheme was constructed in the early 1980s. Zobe Dam was completed with a capacity for irrigation water supply to 5,000 hectares and domestic water supply to surrounding communities. When the dam was constructed, four decades ago, 100 hectares were prepared for irrigation as a pilot. Thereafter, irrigation facilities and canal networks were not installed downstream for irrigation farming. However, the state government made an effort upstream of the dam by creating three irrigation schemes -Yartsaku Irrigation Scheme, Makere (old) Irrigation Scheme, and Garhi Irrigation Scheme, Dutsinma LGA. Construction of irrigation schemes upstream was not part of the design as it requires pumping to supply water to the farms, however, this innovation was done to use a fraction of the huge volume of water ponded in the dam more than 20 years ago. Such mammoth water bodies with little or no usage over the years could be a high risk to the communities downstream but miraculously, no issue was ever reported. However, it is time for something to be done in the Zobe irrigation project.
Jibia Dam Irrigation scheme, a Federal government-owned project is located at Jibia town. The project has a fully developed 3,450 ha with a suspended parabolic concrete canal network equipped with water control and measurement structures. Unfortunately, less than 10 % of the scheme has been under cultivation despite the land, water, and infrastructure. There are two water conveyance systems; gravity and pumpage, the gravity covers only 170 ha (4.9% of the total hectarage) which has been operational while the pumpage covers over 3,000 ha, which requires fuel to generate electricity for the pumps to operate. The high cost of fuel has been a major burden to the managing Agency that made the operation of the pumps difficult. This is a case of massive government investment which does not yield much dividend. For this project to function, there must be a strategy of either fuel cost sharing with farmers or an alternative source of energy has to be developed. Again, part of the irrigation area is surrounded by the Jibia township, which made the area vulnerable to encroachment.
Another Federal Government irrigation project is the Sabke Dam Irrigation scheme, located at Maiadua LGA. The project was aimed at supplying irrigation water to 3,000 hectares of farmland. As of 2008, the Dam was fully completed, and the project had 80 % of the Suspended pre-cast parabolic concrete canal network put with all the control structures put in place. The scheme was yet to be operational as the network of canals and other irrigation facilities were not put in place. At one time the work was stopped for more than ten years. The concrete canals were stockpiled and abandoned for many years. However, it is gratifying to note that the project is recently completed after more than 20 years when it was launched. Despite the project’s completion, it is yet to be operational for the benefit of the surrounding communities.
Dallaji Irrigation project, located in Bindawa LGA is another Federal Government irrigation outfit meant to provide respite to Katsina people. The Dallaji project started in the 2000s but suffered a series of abonnements and work resumptions over the last two decades. The project is yet to see the light of day as neither the dam nor other irrigation infrastructure was 10% completed.
In addition to these supposedly giant irrigation projects belonging to the Federal Government, there are several small-scale irrigation schemes constructed with their dams. Katsina state government inherited six irrigation schemes when the state was created out of the then Kaduna state. As of 2008, fourteen additional dams were locally constructed with or without their irrigation schemes. Some of the dams without irrigation facilities were the Gwaigwaye Dam (Funtua LGA), Maigatari Dam (Kankara LGA), Mani Dam (Mani LGA), Karkaku Dam (Sandamu LGA), Kusa Dam (Jibia). Some of the dams with irrigation facilities were the Kadisau dam in Faskari LGA for irrigating 3 out of 10 hectares, and the Machika Irrigation Scheme in Sabuwa LGA for irrigating 10 of our targeted 25 hectares. Unguwar Yidi dam in Dandume LGA and Mairua Irrigation scheme in Funtua LGA were additional schemes owned by the state government among others. This year, 2023, Katsina state has 35 of such irrigation schemes spread across the state. However, over 25% of these schemes have failed as they are no longer operational and the functional ones are underperforming.
In addition to these irrigation schemes, there is also a huge irrigation potential under Fadama irrigation. Katsina is located on the watershed of three major basins in northern Nigeria (Upper Niger Basin, Hadejia-Jamare Basin, and Sokoto-Rima Basin). As a result, it contains only headwater valleys to these basins. However, the Shallow Aquifer study conducted by KTARDA in 1990 revealed 26 separate floodplain areas called “Fadama” spread across the state. The total acreage identified as Fadama land for irrigation was 36,200 hectares loss of yield and quantity of crops. It is common knowledge that Katsina State is semiarid and recently rainfall is becoming unreliable for agricultural productivity. A few years ago, the rains ceased suddenly resulting in colossal losses to farmers. Global climate change is affecting the state adversely with loss in biodiversity, desertification, low and uneven distribution of rainfall, the disappearance of streams, flash floods that destroy crops, and menace of locusts, quell birds, and other pests. Irrigation is the best complementary option for sustainable crop production in Katsina for this generation and future generations.
As Katsina state inches toward a new dawn by May, 29th 2023, and a Ph.D. holder in Agricultural Extension, Dr. Dikko Radda will be at the helm of affairs, we expect nothing less than a kind of agricultural revolution to earnestly revamp agriculture. In this regard, Irrigation will be a low-hanging fruit for Dr. Radda to pluck, can he make it? What is the Strategy for Revamping Irrigated Agriculture in Katsina State.
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.
As stated last earlier, Irrigation is the best complementary option for sustainable crop production in Katsina for this and future generations.
The new dawn for the state is at the corner, May, 29th 2023, when a Ph.D. holder in Agricultural Extension, Dr. Dikko Radda will be the new leader to pilot the state out of the current predicament. Katsina was expect nothing less than a kind of agricultural revolution to earnestly revamp agriculture, create wealth, and eradicate poverty. In this regard, Irrigation will be a low-hanging fruit for Dr. Radda to pluck, can he pluck it? Why not? What is the strategy for revamping agriculture in Katsina State?
A strategy for revamping irrigated agriculture in Katsina state should focus on the complete adoption of the value chain concept for the introduction and promotion of carefully selected agricultural commodities. The value chain concept consists of production, processing, marketing, and utilization.
Side-by-side with the adoption of a value chain approach, an integrated farming system must also be included for the complete revamping of agriculture in the state.
Production is the fundamental and primary source of agricultural development. The current agricultural production has to be meticulously assessed and production constraints must be identified using a baseline survey. A production target has to be set for quadrupling production over four years. Production can be quadruped by land expansion and cropping intensity through the increase of irrigable land.
Similarly, production per unit area can be increased through the use of improved technologies, skill development, and knowledge transfer. An increase in irrigation areas can expand the area of production and increase the production period from four months during the wet season to ten months in a year. This underscores the need to complete the five Federal Government owned irrigation projects in the state. Katsina state government can synergize with the Federal Government on working together to complete the projects in stages. The state government has to invest in these projects systematically for a refund, provide tangible support or even take over these projects. In either case, the Katsina state government will be the winner because the Katsina communities will be major beneficiaries of these projects.
Additionally, the government can conduct a Technical Audit of all the Schemes, engage the relevant stakeholders, and massively increase the state government investment in irrigation. There has to be a continuous capacity building of farmers and project managers, as well as recruitment of relevant manpower to manage the schemes. Introduce various irrigation management models such as participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), Farmer-Managed Irrigation Model, Public-Private Partnership (PPP), facilitation, and Coordination.
Still, on the production, commodities should be selected with comparative advantage based on environmental and climate variabilities. For example, maize and rice production should be promoted in Funtua, Sabua, and Faskari zone. Sugarcane in Danja, Dabai, and Bakori zone, cotton in Malumfashi, and Kankara zone while groundnut, sesame, millet, and sorghum in Katsina and Daura zone. The production should be market-driven and value-addition with appropriate standards for high value. This can be done with improved technology and intensive capacity building through effective extension services. A relevant extension model like a community-based advisor can be very handy and result-oriented through external facilitation and coordination.
The next is the establishment of processing hubs and zones in the different irrigation production clusters across the state. This amounts to the establishment of cottage industries for value addition of the selected commodities in line with the market demands. In this regard, a comprehensive marketing strategy should be adopted and synchronized with processing zones. Part of the marketing strategy is the identification of both local and international market potentials, and supply and demand curves over the period for the commodities. The strategy should also include the establishment and strengthening of new local and international markets, product standardization, and quality assurance.
As the government focuses on the crops segment of agriculture, the livestock should similarly be given the desired attention. This is where the promotion of an integrated farming system becomes necessary to make irrigation a glorious future for Katsina state. The people of Katsina state are majorly agrarian, the crop farmers practice livestock farming and vice versa. The need to address the challenges against livestock farming in the state cannot be overemphasized due to the prevalent insecurity associated with cattle herders. Recent studies indicate the gross negligence of livestock farming is significantly responsible for the catastrophic insecurity challenge of banditry and abduction for ransom in rural areas. So, the adoption of an integrated farming system can address some of the causes of banditry and boost agricultural productivity in the state. How can this strategy be implemented?
No doubt implementation of this strategy requires careful planning, resource mobilization, and huge investment in financial resources. The state government may be discouraged due to paucity of funds especially as the state is said to be highly indebted locally and internationally. However, the government can consider the involvement of the private sector in resource investment. There are several models for PPP and a suitable model can be selected for implementation. One certainty in agriculture is the overwhelming profit, value for money, and win-win scenario for a well-managed investment devoid of nepotism and corruption. The ball is in the court of Dr. Dikko, may he kick it in the right direction for a glorious score, amen.