FG, FAO Sign $0.35m MoU to Boost Drip Irrigation

FG, FAO Sign $0.35m MoU to Boost Drip Irrigation

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has provided a $350,000 Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to the federal government to help promote the drip irrigation system at selected irrigation schemes in the country.

The Country Representative of FAO, Mr. Fred Kafeero, at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the organisation and the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said the gesture aimed to strengthen sustainable and inclusive food and agriculture systems in the country.

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He said as a specialised agency of the United Nations, FAO had the mandate to ensure food security and nutrition in all its member countries across the world through sustainable management of natural resources including water.

Drip irrigation or trickle irrigation is a type of micro-irrigation system that has the potential to save water and nutrients by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either from above the soil surface or buried below the surface.

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Kafeero said the FAO remained committed to supporting the country’s economic diversification agenda and promotion of decent employment for youth and women in the agricultural value chain.

Responding, Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu, commended the organisation adding that the cooperation was key to achieving its ministerial mandate of completing all priority ongoing irrigation and dam projects.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, Mrs. Didi Walson-Jack, the minister said that the intervention would add between 20 hectares to 25 hectares of irrigated land to what is already in existence.

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