96% of dams dysfunctional despite FG’s agric revolution claims

Despite the Federal Government’s renewed commitment to revolutionalise the agricultural sector, 96 percent of dams located across the country are dysfunctional, experts say.

The purpose of the construction of dams was to boost water supply, provide reservoirs for flood control, irrigation farming and hydroelectricity.

But the water is hardly reaching the farms, as most of the dams across the country have been neglected by government at various levels, industry sources say.

“Out of the 264 dams we have in Nigeria, only five are functional. We need the dams to boost productivity and attain self-sufficiency in crop production” Emmanuel Ijewere, vice president, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) and chief executive officer Best Foods Limited, told BusinessDay.

BusinessDay investigations show that Dadin Kowa dam in Gombe State, Wase dam in Kano, Warwade dam in Jigawa, Kazaure dam in Jigawa, Auyo dam in Jigawa, Oyan dam in Ogun and Alau dam in Borno are functional.

Nigeria has a total of 264 dams with a combined storage capacity of 33 BCM of water for multipurpose uses. Two hundred and ten of the dams are owned by the Federal Government, 34 by the states and 20 by private organisations, according to the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

The country currently has irrigation land potential of about 3.1 million hectares, out of which only 150,000 hectares have been developed, according to a document on the Federal Ministry of Water Resources’ website.

Ibrahim Kabiru, national president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) said “Most of our dams are underutilised and some are just abandoned, especially those built by various local governments.

“Farmers must start farming all year round, to meet the rising demand for food and it is only through irrigation we can do this,” Kabiru said.

Some key industry players who spoke with BusinessDay, stated that even the few dams that are functional are operating far below capacity. They urged government to partner with the private sector on the maintenance and management of dams across the country for improved functionality.

“Government should partner with the private sector for effective utilisation of the dams. The government cannot do it all alone,” Ijewere said.

The NABG vice president noted that all year round farming depends on the functionality of the dams.

Prince Oyefeso, chief executive officer of Oyefeso Farms, said, “the issues with the dams are the reason why farmers still depend on rain-fed agriculture.

“The few dams that are functional are underutilised. If the government is really serious about reviving agriculture, then it must ensure that all dams across the country are functional and utilised fully,” said Oyefeso.

He noted that without the revitalisation of dams, government would not achieve its goal of economic diversification through agriculture.

The major challenges facing the operation of dams for irrigation and fish farming in Nigeria is that some of the dams were not initially built for irrigation and some were wrongly positioned to serve that purpose, experts say.

“The issue is that most of the dams across the country were not designed for irrigation but designed for water reservoir and for hydroelectricity,” said Rotimi Fashola, senior partner, OIT Fash Consult.

“The dams have to come with the components for irrigation before they can be used for that purpose. It is now that the government is trying to provide those components for most of the dams,” Fashola said.

In a recent public presentation of the water sector road map, Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Water Resources, said the ministry wants to develop the country’s irrigation area to 500,000 hectares, through direct government intervention and facilitate the development of another one million hectares to large scale commercial farmers, through the Community, Public Private Partnership (CPPP).

According to the ministry of water resources, the department is currently engaged in the construction and rehabilitation of 33 dam projects and 27 small earth dams.

Studies have shown that dams are a significant catalyst for earthquakes, especially if they are located in an area with significant geological activity.

“Dams can cause a lot of problems against the normal forces of nature. The long term negative impact can outweigh the benefit of dams,” said Desmond Majekodunmi, an environmentalist.

Regy Ikpeawujo, director, dams and reservoirs of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, refused to comment on BusinessDay’s questions on the operation of dams.

 

Josephine Okojie