Irrigating Nigeria

With access to an estimated 9 million metric tons of water from both surface and underground sources, Nigeria is a country with bountiful freshwater resources. Yet, despite the amount of water available to the country, less than 3% of cropland is currently being used for irrigation.

Expanding irrigation in Nigeria would allow farmers to sow seeds and grow crops during dry periods, extend the growing season beyond the traditional rainy season, and help Africa's most populous country become more food secure.

To help better understand the opportunities and challenges associated with scaling up irrigation in Nigeria, University of Delaware doctoral student Bhoktear Mahbub Khan and Kyle Davis, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences and the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, as well as a resident faculty member with UD's Data Science Institute, recently traveled to Nigeria and held a two-day workshop in Abuja at the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) office. More than 60 delegates from various government offices, non-governmental agencies, universities and farmers participated in the workshop.

The goal was for participants to develop a better understanding of which stakeholders are working on specific areas of irrigation in Nigeria, as well as spatially analyze the distribution of current irrigated croplands and potential water sources to assess the potential for irrigation expansion.

In addition, the workshop participants aimed to pinpoint the most appropriate irrigation methods for small-scale farmers, identify existing political and economic challenges facing irrigation in the country, and explore political and economic mechanisms to overcome those challenges.

The workshop was co-hosted by NASRDA, the University of Delaware, NASA Harvest, a multi-disciplined consortium commissioned by NASA, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and the University of Abuja.

Funding for the workshop came from a Climate Change Hub Graduate Research Enhancement Grant by the Gerard J. Mangone Climate Change Science and Policy Hub at UD.