Nigéria: irrigation projects get US$550 million
FÓRUM AGRICULTURA IRRIGADA
At the inauguration of the steering committee on Nigeria Irrigation and Water Resources Management Project of the World Bank, minister Ochekpe said the World Bank donated US$400 million of the amount.
She expressed optimism that the donations would enable Nigeria to achieve much success in the water sector.
Ochepke said that the committee was established to bridge the gap between the demand for food and domestic supply among others, through a sustainable irrigated agriculture.
The committee is made up of Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources (FMWR), Agriculture, Finance, Power and Environment.
She said that the project would improve technical and operational efficiency of selected irrigation schemes with a view to improving agricultural productivity and rural incomes.
“The project has an irrigation potential of about 3.1 million hectares, currently about 150,000 hectares have been equipped with irrigation infrastructure,” she said.
According to Water Resources minister Sarah Ochekpe, said the proposed investment was on five key irrigation projects within three River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) – Sokoto-Rima , Hadejia Jama’are and Upper Benue.
Fonte: http://en.starafrica.com/news/nigerias-irrigation-projects-get-us550-million.html
