Thursday, 27 May 2021: A one-day Consultation/workshop on Farmer-led irrigation and water management in South West Nigeria – Panacea for climate change and food security kicked off Wednesday morning at the Prof E. A. Adebowale Training hall at the Institute of Agriculture Research and Training,  (IAR&T), Moor Plantation, Ibadan.

CEOAFRICA reports that representatives of the Ogun/Osun River Basin Development Authority, Oyo State Ministry of Agric/ADP as well as other South west states Ministry of Agriculture/ADP.

In her welcome remarks, the Executive  Director, I.A.R.& T.  Prof. V. A. Obatolu represented by the Deputy Director, Dr Jelili Olaide Saka spoke on the uniqueness of the workshop.

Deputy Director, Dr Jelili Olaide Saka representing the Executive Director of I.A.R.& T.  Prof. Veronica A. Obatolu.

According to her, “in the history of this Institute, this consultation/workshop is the first stakeholder focused meeting call by the institute on the subject of Irrigation and Agricultural Water Management.”

She noted that the challenges farmers are now facing with climate change and weather variability have make this meeting very important.

“As a research institute with the zonal mandate for farming system practices in the south western zone and a national mandate on soil water research, we have come to realize that it has become critical to approach the issues of climate change and weather variability with a renewed zeal and vigour it deserves. Hence, the need for this stakeholder consultation workshop,” he explained.

Prof. Obatolu further said that the bi-modal rainfall pattern that gives two cropping season – April to July and August to November – are no longer guarantee, stating that average rainfall in the south western Nigerian – from the Coastal and rainforest of Ogun/Lagos to the guinea savannah of Oyo North – is about 2000mm to 1200mm.  

“However, the depth and distribution of rainfall is fast changing and the effect on the cropping systems are becoming clearly unbearable. I believe, the time has passed when we used to think we do not need irrigation in the south,” he stated.

Prof Obatolu said this consultation is an assemblage of key stakeholder and experts from the Ogun Osun River Basin Development Authority with mandate for water resources management and irrigation in the Ogun-Osun catchment; state ADPs, Ministries of Agriculture, Farmers and farmers’ association and senior research scientists from the I.A.R&T as well as the REFILS family.

“It is our hope that this consultation will set the tone for further conversation on how to help the farmers – smallholder and commercial – in the South West to change the narrative of negative impact of drought and improve on more productive uses of water resources for all-year crop production in South West and Nigeria at large,” he added.