The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said the Federal Government would soon begin to harness flood water to improve irrigation farming.
He made this known in Abuja at a workshop on Water Management Solutions for Flood-Recession and Dry Season Agriculture in Nigeria.
He said the ministry and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, Sri Lanka, would use the flood water to grow agriculture.
Adesina said dry season farming would go a long way to promote agriculture and enhance food security in the country.
“This will turn our country’s agriculture sector around and make the country self sufficient in food production, because today, we spend 35 billion dollars a year in importing food.
“It does not make sense because we can produce all these food items; we should be an exporting country by now and not depending on others to feed us.’’
He said Africa could truly be free when it starts managing its disasters and turn them into opportunities.
He added: “Africa can truly be free when we start feeding ourselves and we should do it with pride.
“The solution to feeding the world is not in Asia or Latin America, but in Africa, because 65 per cent of arable land for feeding the world in 2050 is in Africa.
“I am so glad that the Federal Government is in support of this project of managing flood tragedy into feeding millions of Nigerians because the flood experience in Nigeria goes beyond the Nigerian borders.”
Adesina said Africa should look at value chain commodities as pioneered by the Transformation Agenda, which have increased Nigeria’s domestic food production since 2011.
The Director-General of the institute, Mr Jeremy Bird, said the institute’s objective in Nigeria is to achieve sustainable use of water and land resources.
“Our goal is to assist the government of Nigeria to increase agricultural production and food security and to enable small-scale farmers to engage in flood recession and dry season agriculture.
“We are very honoured to play a role in assisting the government of Nigeria to reduce flood risks and increase food production.
“This will enable small-scale farmers to engage in dry season farming in order to provide food for their families and to partake in agri-business,” he said.
The institute intends to focus on the sustainable use of water and land resources in developing countries.
Its objective includes working in partnership with governments, Civil Society Organisations and the private sector to develop scalable agricultural water management solutions.
