An afternoon with Niger Republic irrigation farmers

For farmers in Niger areas bordering Nigeria, it is the most cherished thing for the local farmers to benefit from the irrigation projects being provided by the Katsina State.A visit by this reporter to Dan Alhaji, Dabara, Unguwar-Rinji, Amagu, Zangan-Bugaje and Kullufawa communities all in Maradi in Niger Republic revealed that they depend solely on […]

For farmers in Niger areas bordering Nigeria, it is the most cherished thing for the local farmers to benefit from the irrigation projects being provided by the Katsina State.
A visit by this reporter to Dan Alhaji, Dabara, Unguwar-Rinji, Amagu, Zangan-Bugaje and Kullufawa communities all in Maradi in Niger Republic revealed that they depend solely on water from Jibia dam for their irrigation farming, building, drinking and other domestic uses.
Though a Nigerian Federal Ministry of Water Recourses facility, Katsina State Government buys and supplies diesel that powers the water pumping machines at the dam when the federal government abandoned the facility.
It was on that basis that Katsina arranged with the management of the dam to extend the dam’s water supply to the neighbouring villages in Niger and that initiative has today become the source of enhanced agricultural production in the area.
Records at the dam indicate that as at 2007, the dam was not used for irrigation due to lack of fuel to run the pumps but things only changed with the intervention of the Katsina State Government. The irrigation land is about 3, 500 hectares which is both enjoyed by the Jibia farmers and their Nigerien counterparts.
The irrigation project authority benefits from the free fueling of the dam while irrigation farmers in the area enjoy constant supply of water from the dam, agricultural extension services, subsidise fertilisers and seedlings. All the freebees enjoyed by the Jibia farmers are equally extended to their Nigerien counterparts.
At Dan Abdallah village in Niger, the spokesman of the farmers, Malam Lawali Sarkin Baki, told this reporter that the irrigation system is putting food on their tables throughout the year, expressing appreciation with the gesture of the Katsina government.
He said the semi desert nature of Niger has made it difficult for them to work on the farms when there is no enough rain for the successful growing of crops adding: “However, with the coming of the scheme, things have changed greatly as we now farm all year round; there is no famine as we live happily with our animals at no risk of hunger or thirst.”
He said during the dry season a variety of farm produce are cultivated by the farmers including maize, corn, cowpea, wheat and vegetables, adding that they normally farm all year round.
According to Wikipedia, Jibia Dam is an earth-fill structure with a geomembrane liner, with a height of 23.5 m and a total length of 3,660m, and has a capacity of 142 million. The dam was designed in 1987 and completed in 1989, and was built to support irrigation and water supply.
The landscape at the dam site is sub-desertic except in the rainy season. The Gada River flows for only about four months each year, with a catchment area at Jibiya of over 400 km. The Gada River flows from Nigeria into Niger and then back into Nigeria. In the past, it was dry for eight months of the year. There is now a regulated flow throughout the year, which has improved the water supply in Niger.
Commenting, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural resources in Katsina State, Alhaji Musa Adamu Funtua, said the gesture is a sign of good neighbourliness.
“Seeing is believing, as far as we are concerned it has become a tradition in Katsina where more than 400 tonnes of fertiliser used to be given to farmers that cultivate in Jibia irrigation, amounting to about N175 million. This is aside the purchase of diesel, subsidised inputs and extension services for modern farming.
“What may interest you more to note is that not only farmers in Maradi benefit from our gesture, even those at Zinder benefit because of the Sabke Dam at Daura which also provides similar services to farmers at that location.”