FG, World Bank assess Cross River readiness for irrigation farming

Officials of the Federal Government, in collaboration with the World Bank, have visited Cross River to verify the state’s readiness to be part of the Sustainable Power and Irrigation Project for Nigeria (SPIN).

The fact-finding mission led the team to the 12,000 hectares of land being prepared for farming and irrigation activities in Odukpani Local Government Area of Cross River.

SPIN is a World Bank initiative which will commence in 2025 to replace the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING) Project to address the nation’s pressing challenge relating to food sufficiency and availability.

Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday, during the verification exercise in Ikpiri Ikang, Mr Dickson Ogunmakinwa from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation said the SPIN project was to address food shortage.

Ogunmakinwa said they visited Cross River to ascertain its readiness and to also see the site and model the state had chosen to embark upon in the SPIN Programme.

“Currently, Nigeria is facing a serious food shortage, so this programme, which is part of the president’s ‘renewed hope agenda’, is to expand existing irrigation schemes across the country in partnership with states to promote food security.

“By the time the irrigation scheme is developed, there will be lots of farming activities which will involve youths and women, and many cottage industries will grow around this corridor.

“However states are required to show proper documentation, engineering designs of their projects for sustainability and a counterpart fund of N200 million to take care of the project preliminaries as criteria for eligibility,” he said.

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Similarly, Mr Ndifon Agbiji, the Project Engineer for Cross River and Akwa Ibom said in line with the directive of Gov. Bassey Otu, Cross River was institutionalising the state’s Wide Irrigation Infrastructure Development Programme.

He said the state government had earmarked the Ikpiri Ikang irrigation project which would be jointly executed by the federal and state governments with the aim of upscaling sustainable food production across the State.

“We are here to assure the team from the Federal Government that the engineering design for the project, which includes the source of water for the irrigation, will be used to drive the various types of irrigation for the project,” he asserted.

On her part, Mrs Justina Ulafor, director of Mechanisation and Irrigation Development in the Cross River’s Ministry of Agriculture, said the state was looking at embarking on models one and two in the SPIN project.

Ulafor noted that the project would improve the livelihood of the Farmers, and increase crop productivity across the state, adding that the farmers would be provided with fertiliser through the “Project Grow” initiative in the state.

NAN reports that the team had earlier visited Akwa Ibom to access the Itu Irrigation and Flood Control Project, where they were received by Dr Enobong Mbobo, Commissioner for Water Resources and Sanitation in Akwa Ibom.