Attaining Water And Food Security In Nigeria

Medical experts claim that although human beings can survive
for a long time without food, they will die within eight to 14 days if they do
not drink water.

They partly attribute this to the fact that 70 per cent of
the human body is made up of water.

The importance of water is aptly underscored when discussing
issues relating to body temperature, breathing, food digestion and joints’
lubrication.

However, the experts insist that food and water are
essential for human survival because the human body needs them to provide the
needed nutrients for energy, growth and replacement of damaged cells.

The superlative value of food and water in human existence,
perhaps, compelled stakeholders to choose “Water and Food Security’’ as the
theme for this year’s World Water Day on March 22 and World Water Week between
Aug. 26 and Aug. 31

The theme is aimed at addressing the salient issues raised
in the UN Food Security Guide report, which indicate that more than a billion
people experience hunger-induced hardships; while the figure continues to rise.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) defines food
security as a situation where people continuously have physical and socio-
economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary
needs and food preferences for active and healthy living.

Observers, however, note that in recent times, food security
in Nigeria is hampered by the increasing menace of floods in different states
across the country.

This is because floodwaters have washed away many farmlands
and destroyed farm produce, resulting in increased food prices.

However, a report from the World Water Week, which was
celebrated in Stockholm, recommends a better coordination in land and water
resources’ management with the amplified involvement of farmers in efforts to
achieve food security in various countries.

As part of efforts to implement the recommendation, the
Minister for Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, said that the Federal
Government would expedite action on the ongoing rehabilitation of 57 irrigation
projects across the country to ensure food security.

“The issues surrounding water and food security are
enormous, as they are  critical elements
for human existence. Therefore, in Nigeria, the Ministry of Water Resources
plans to harness the potential of the country’s irrigation facilities to ensure
food security.

“For a start, we have already identified 57 irrigation
projects across the country for the Federal Government’s investment.

“These are critical facilities that we must pay attention
to; certainly, we cannot achieve food security without irrigation development.

“All irrigation facilities are already being prepared for
either rehabilitation or further development. For those that we have not fully
developed, we are making efforts to develop them; for those that need
rehabilitation, we are already working on them,’’ she said.

Ochekpe stressed that when the irrigation facilities were
fully operational, about three million jobs would be created nationwide for
young Nigerians who had passion for agriculture.

However, Prof. Paul Marley, the Managing Director of the
Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority, underscored the need for a
proper synergy between the federal and state ministries of water resources and
agriculture to boost the country’s food security.

He stressed that the ministry of water resources had the capacity
for promoting irrigated agriculture, adding that rain-fed agriculture was not
enough to enhance food production in the country.

“There is the need for proper collaboration between all the
stakeholders, particularly the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, to ensure food
security.

“The Ministry of Water Resources has the capability to
promote irrigated agriculture. We are the owners of most irrigation schemes in
the country; we are also the providers of water.

“We have water for use during the dry season; I think if
there is a synergy between the ministries of water resources and agriculture,
food production in the country will receive a boost because rainy season
farming alone cannot see this country through.

“We need to maximise the potential of our irrigated
agriculture which the Federal Ministry for Water Resources has the capacity of
boosting. When that is done, Nigeria will be able to produce enough food and we
will have food security,’’ Marley said.

Also speaking, Mr Joe Kwanashie, the Director of Irrigation
and Drainage in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said that regardless
of the threats which climate change posed to food security, the country’s youth
ought to be encouraged to go into farming.

Kwanashie said that irrigated farming would certainly
attract educated youths to engage in agriculture, stressing that youths’
participation in farming, particularly irrigation farming, was very much
desirable.

Agricultural experts, nonetheless, insist that virtually all
the large breadbasket regions of the world heavily rely on irrigation farming.

They, however, note that large scale, non-sustainable ground
water exploitation is worsening existing irrigation problems, while surface water
irrigation, in some cases, is also unsustainable because of river flow
depletion.

All the same, the experts stress the need for adequate
funding and political will to develop irrigation farming in Nigeria in a
pragmatic way, as part of efforts to attain food security in the country. Kate
Obande write in from  News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN).

Kate Obande