The rehabilitation of Nigeria’s 264 dams, which have long been neglected, could significantly enhance the country’s agricultural productivity, stabilize food prices, and reduce reliance on food imports. By improving the use of these dams for irrigation, Nigeria could achieve year-round farming, thus addressing the current challenges of soaring food prices, especially as inflation continues to rise. According to the latest data from the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country’s inflation rate climbed to 29.90% in January 2024, driven largely by rising food prices, including essential goods such as food, housing, electricity, and transportation.
Despite efforts to ramp up local food production, many of Nigeria’s dams are in disrepair, and irrigation systems are underutilized. Ibrahim Kabiru, the national president of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, emphasized that the lack of access to reliable water sources has created a barrier to sustainable, year-round agricultural production. This has left farmers without the necessary infrastructure to improve crop yields, leaving them vulnerable to the country’s seasonal variations and climate challenges.
Experts argue that with proper management and investment, Nigeria’s extensive dam network could transform agricultural output. These dams could enable multiple harvests per year for staple crops such as maize, beans, tomatoes, plantains, and various legumes, which typically mature in just a few months. If well-maintained, these dams could support three planting and harvesting cycles annually, thus increasing overall food supply, stabilizing food prices, and even creating opportunities for food exports.
Further, the availability of year-round irrigation would likely attract both local and foreign investment into mechanized farming and food processing industries, generating employment, increasing foreign exchange earnings, and boosting overall economic development. Additionally, there would be opportunities for expanding fish farming, a sector that could benefit from improved water management and irrigation systems.
The focus, however, should be on revitalizing existing dams, rather than constructing new ones, according to Kabiru. Nigeria’s total of 264 dams has a combined storage capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of water, but many are either underutilized or in poor condition. Of these dams, 210 are owned by the federal government, while the remaining 54 are under state or private ownership. The Federal Ministry of Water Resources has identified that only a small fraction of the country’s irrigation land potential—approximately 150,000 hectares out of an estimated 3.1 million hectares—has been developed.
Industry experts such as AfricanFarmer Mogaji, CEO of X-Ray Farms, point out that most of the country’s active river basins are hindered by blocked canals, reducing the flow of water to farmlands by over 50%. These issues could be quickly resolved with basic maintenance work, such as desilting the canals. Mogaji also noted that some dams have collapsed infrastructure and require funding for repairs. He criticized the lack of expertise in the management of these resources, which often leads to misallocated budgets and inefficiencies in maintaining essential water infrastructure.
Abiodun Olorundero, Managing Director of AquaShoots Limited, added that many of the dams in Nigeria’s South-West region, such as the Oyan dam in Ogun State, are either inactive or underused, mainly serving recreational activities like fishing. Olorundero argued that private sector involvement, through a transparent bidding process, could help manage these resources more effectively, bringing value to both agriculture and the wider community.
Finally, experts agree that tackling corruption, mismanagement, and inefficiencies within the agricultural sector is critical for the country to achieve long-term food security. A comprehensive approach to managing Nigeria’s water resources and agricultural infrastructure could pave the way for a more prosperous, food-secure future for the nation.
