At least 12 irrigation schemes are back in operation in Kano State in northern Nigeria. These facilities were re-commissioned on 31 August 2022 in the presence of the Nigerian Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu. The completed works were carried out under the Kano River Irrigation Scheme (KRIS), an ongoing irrigation project in northern Nigeria.
The KRIS project is being implemented by the Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority, with funding from the World Bank-supported Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) programme.
The upgraded irrigation systems will serve farmers in Kura, Bunkure and Garun Malam in Kano. In the famine-ridden Nigerian state, the irrigation project will also enhance food security and reduce rural poverty.
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The KRIS project also includes the rehabilitation of the Challawa, Tiga and Ruwan Kanya water reservoirs in Kano State. This component of the project was awarded to the Chinese company Sinohydro in July 2018. The rehabilitated dams will store water to supply farmers during periods of severe drought.
The ultimate goal is to restore land for various crops in Kano. “The Kano River Irrigation Scheme is one of five irrigation projects underway in Nigeria,” explains Suleiman Adamu, Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources.
Inès Magoum