Water transfer: The panacea for food security in Nigeria

The federal government realised the dire situation facing Nigeria and declared a state of emergency on food security in Nigeria. This is indeed a harbinger of good things to come for the nation because it is agreed that there is no freedom for a nation that does not feed itself. The declaration of the state […]

The federal government realised the dire situation facing Nigeria and declared a state of emergency on food security in Nigeria. This is indeed a harbinger of good things to come for the nation because it is agreed that there is no freedom for a nation that does not feed itself. The declaration of the state of emergency on food security is the major step to address the problem. Food security is the availability, affordability and accessibility to food that meets all the nutritional needs of the people at all the times. Food is from animals and plants. Both are living beings and all living beings depend on water. Therefore, availing of water is mandatory for increased food production. 

The government has three approaches to tackle the food insecurity problem. These are short term measures like reverting to import or stopping smuggling and food wastage, medium-term measures of rehabilitating and removing the obstacles to increased food production by improving the utilisation of the irrigation infrastructure, introduction of more efficient irrigation systems and techniques like drip irrigation. The third is a long-term measure that goes to address the root cause of the problem of food insecurity.

The root cause of food insecurity is the lack of enough water for food production. A wide range of water-related risks undermine human well-being and can contribute to political instability, violent conflict, human displacement and migration, and acute food insecurity, which in turn can undermine national, regional, and even global security. 

The solution is availing water to produce food. Ultimately, the goal is to find long-term solutions that reduce poverty and improve health and socioeconomic development for all. The only viable solution to availing water is water transfer as the two other alternatives of increasing the rainfall is beyond human control while relying on ground water is not feasible as no one knows its quantity and recharge.  Nigeria has enough water to be transferred. 

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Water scarcity is among the main causes of insecurity, banditry and poverty in Nigeria. This is evidently demonstrated by the following: 

1.     The Drying up of Lake Chad, the greatest environmental catastrophe of our time in the country. 
2. The idleness of the population for eight months’ dry season led to the prevailing poverty and unemployment in the northern region that bred Boko Haram, banditry, kidnapping and food insecurity. 

iii.   The cattle herders’ movement to further southern parts of the country with its attendant problems with the host communities. 

1. The closure of most of the industries that depend on locally produced agricultural raw materials. 

 

Nigeria Surface Water Drainage System

Our nearly forty years’ experience in the Nigeria sugar sector where we participated with the team that prepared the National Sugar Master Plan and our involvement with the Dangote Sugar Master Plan gave us the opportunity to study Nigeria water resources and appreciate the great potential it has for development. 

The Nigeria surface water is drained through four systems in the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and the Niger River System. The quantity runs into billions of cubic metres of water. 

The recorded discharge of the River Niger at Lokoja, the confluence of Benue and Niger showed that the average flow at Lokoja is about 5600m3 /s. The water from Lokoja flows southwards to the Ocean. The figure below shows the river discharge measured at Lokoja from 1960 to 2020. 

 

River Niger Discharge at Lokoja 

This discharge goes into the ocean as a wasted precious resource. 

To appreciate the value of the wasted resource, we contrast it with the water on earth as shown below.

It is obvious that Nigeria has water being wasted into the ocean. The transfer of part of this water to where it is needed to produce food and achieve food and national security is the theme of the write-up.

The proposal is to transfer fresh water to the drier parts of the country to recharge Lake Chad and achieve the desired national and food security. The proposal is based on the following facts: 

1. The root cause of the problems in the north generally is the lack of enough water to sustain the economy and livelihood of the region.  
2.   the only solution to this problem is water transfer 
3.   The proposal looks at the River Niger system to provide the water to be transferred. The confluence of River Niger and its major tributary, Benue is at Lokoja from where the water flows to the ocean. 

The average flow at Lokoja amounts to over 140 bm3 every year of fresh water discharged into the ocean. The ocean does not need all that water.

The proposal seeks to transfer Fresh Water from around or after the confluence of rivers Niger and Benue to where it is needed with minimum negative effect to the doner environment. The water transfer is to achieve the following: 

 

1.     Irrigation of over two million hectares of land and recharge of Lake Chad
2.   Recharging of underground aquifers 
3.   Generation of power
4.   Manage and reduce the menace and effects of annual flooding
5.   Domestic and industrial use.
6.   Water Transfer is a tested solution to water shortage problems all over the world. Few examples are:
7.     The China South North Water Transfer that delivers 44.8 bm3 and benefits 500 million people.
8.   The Colorado Canal that lifts the water over 900m head and irrigates 140,000 hectares and contributes over $100bn to the economy of the State of Colorado, USA. 
9.     The Indira Gandhi Canal in India that irrigates 2 million hectares 
10.   Qosh Tepa water transfer canal in Afghanistan designed to run 280 km to irrigate 500,000 ha. It was started in 2022 and 130km have been achieved by April 2024. 

The beauty of this proposal is that it is at the discretion of Nigeria and has the following technical and socioeconomic advantages:

1.     The Project Area is entirely within Nigeria while most of the water resource is from the     country.
2.     The area is devoid of major inter-basin water transfer complexities. 
3.     No negative environmental impacts in other countries;  
4.     Availability of energy sources in Nigeria (coal, gas, oil, solar and wind)
5.     Addressing the need for Nigeria to be self-reliant and to diversify its economy through agriculture and industrialisation.
6.     Addressing insecurity and the farmers/herders’ conflict
7.   To stop the loss of millions of hectares of arable land to desertification
8.   Provision of infrastructure and social amenities
9.     Enhance household income of beneficiary communities
10.     The proposal is similar to the pumping of crude oil from the Niger Delta to Kaduna.

 

Justification of the Proposal 

The need for a Game Changer Mega Project to rally the nation around and address food insecurity. 

There is no reliable long-lasting alternative to water transfer to achieve food security. 

Enhance the Great Green Wall Project and help stop the loss of millions of hectares of arable land to desertification. 

When completed, the project will pay for itself.

       

Socioeconomic Benefits

Potential to contribute approximately USD 660 billion annually to the economy of the country

Serve/impact approximately 105million people

Addressing the problem of desertification in the North (planting of tree crops and others)

Engaging the youth in the region in productive Agricultural ventures (employment)

Industrialisation of the zone (sugar cane, cotton and groundnut)

Eradicating hunger in the region

Provision of infrastructure and social amenities

 

SWOT Analysis of the Proposal 

Strengths

Irrigation of more than two million hectares of land

Supplement recharging Lake Chad with excess water from River Niger and tributaries (approx. 70% of River Benue waters come from Nigeria) 

Tested solution to tackle drought and water shortages.

Existence of similar projects in India, China, USA etc.

Similar pumping of oil from the Niger Delta to the North

Groundwater aquifers will be recharged.

Availability of large quantities of water being wastefully discharged into the Atlantic Ocean at an average rate of about 5600m3/s.

Economically viable and sustainable.

 

Weaknesses

The project has a long gestation period.

The project will require huge funds.

 

Opportunities

Implementation of Existing Government Policy of diversification and industrialisation of the economy through agriculture

Government’s resolve to seek a solution to the drying of Lake Chad 

Availability of coal deposits, natural gas and solar power to provide needed energy for the project

Generation of employment and economic activities by reviving the agriculture and food production

Availing water to irrigate millions of hectares and achieve food security

Generation of electricity.

 

 Threats

Funding of the project

Politicisation of the project

Mitigation of the Threats 

Nigeria must not depend on the benevolence of donor countries to realise this proposal.

Legislate the creation of an independent funding source for the project.

Legislate the creation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the execution of the project.

1.   Special Commission
2.   Public Limited Liability Company    

It is obvious that the problems of drought, desertification and destabilisation of the ecosystem were the breeding ground for Boko Haram terrorists and others whose devastating effects are very clear in Nigeria. This (KETSWA’s) concept will address the root cause of the problem decisively. 

 The authors have gathered a lot of data regarding this proposal and are ready to discuss the details of this proposal with any interested parties. 

 

Engr Alshareif wrote via hmelsharief@gmail,com while Engr Adam [email protected]