The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has launched an $8-million ‘Water for Agriculture Activity’ for the benefit of crop and livestock farmers in crisis-ridden northeast Nigeria. Specifically, the project is aimed at providing adequate and sustainable water for the farmers.
The Mission Director, USAID, Mr Stephen Haykin said at the official launch of the project in Abuja on Wednesday that the scheme was awarded in July 2019 and would last for the next three years – from July 2019 to July 2022 in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.
According to him, the project which will be implemented by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) will assist some of the region’s most vulnerable communities.
“It will expand water access for both agriculture and livestock, which will, in turn, increase income generation for smallholder farmers and help them recover from the economic destruction wrought by the insurgencies.
“Water scarcity is a big challenge in the Northeast basin. The impact of climate change is driving decreasing and uncertain rainfall patterns.
“This scarcity, combined with limited irrigation infrastructure, inadequate waters, agriculture management and conflict around agricultural production have all constrained livelihoods,” he said.
Similarly, the Deputy Country Representative, CRS, Mr Dane Fredenburg said that the activity would reach more than 50,000 herders and 4,000 smallholder farmers in the three states.
The Governor of Borno State, Prof. Babagana Zulum who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Alhaji Umar Kadafur said that 10,000 hectares of land had been mapped out for the cultivation of special crops such as maize, millet, and groundnuts, among others in 21 local government areas of the state.
