The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, has called on state and local governments to make use of impounded bulk water in dam reservoirs to meet the country’s food security needs.
Utsev made the call on Thursday at the opening of the 30th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Water Resources and Sanitation in Abuja.
He said the ministry was faced with challenges of non-utilisation of the impounded bulk raw water in dam reservoirs.
According to him, other tiers of government with the responsibility to develop downstream infrastructure are shying away from their duties in most cases.
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He noted that to arrest the ugly situation and realise the benefits for which the dams were constructed, there was the need for effective collaboration among stakeholders in the water sector, particularly among the three tiers of government.
Utsev emphasised that irrigated agricultural practices played a pivotal role in fostering a robust economy, constituting a significant portion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The minister noted that at the last council meeting in Sokoto some irrigation schemes were completed and handed over to farmers for cultivation through the World Bank-sponsored Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) project.
He listed the schemes as the Hadejia Valley (5,750ha) Irrigation Scheme in Jigawa State; Kano River (14,444ha) Irrigation Scheme in Kano State; and the Gari (2,114ha) Irrigation Project in Kano and Jigawa states.
In his welcome address, Alhaji Bello Goronyo, the Minister of State for Water Resources and Sanitation, harped on the current administration’s steadfast commitment to food security.
Earlier, Rep Sada Soli, Chairman, House Committee on Water Resources, said international cooperation was needed for improving water governance and food security in the country.
