Farmers in Kano state have expressed concern over closure of Tiga dam by the Hadejia-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA), lamenting over lack of water to irrigate their farms for dry season farming.
The affected farmers in the state who used the facility to farm crops such as wheat, rice, tomato, cabbage and many more, expressed their worry after one month of closure of the dam, bemoaning that the closure have hampered their source of livelihood and that it would prevent them from dry season farming.
Tiga Dam has been a major source of water to irrigation farms in Kano State for several decades and it is referred to as the oil rig of the state for the simple fact that it serves both crop farmers and herdsmen alike during the dry season.
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The dam was built in 1971 during the administration of Governor Audu Bako in an attempt to improve food security through irrigation projects and also to put the vast agrarian land into use.
Reports from the Hadejia Jamaare River Basin Development Authority (HJRDBA) indicated that the agency had ordered total closure of the dam from November 1, 2021 and would not open it until March 31, 2021.
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The HJRBDA office in Kano announced the agency’s decision to close the dam for repairs, which they said had become necessary and that it is in line with the Transforming Irrigation Management in Nigeria (TRIMING), which is a World Bank-funded project to implement the rehabilitation of the Kano River Irrigation Schemes (KRIS) and Hadejia Valley Irrigation Scheme (HVIS).
Kano State chairman of Tomato Out-Growers Association of Nigeria (TOGAN), Alhaji Sani Danladi Yadakwari, described the closure of the dam as a decision by the management of the basin as an uncalculated one that would make farmers to live in anguish.
