Farmers in Kano State are beginning to explore year-round cultivation as improved irrigation systems and road infrastructure create new opportunities for agricultural production, although questions remain about long-term maintenance, equitable access to water and the profitability of additional harvests.
For Faruku Musa Haruna and other farmers in Kumfada, farming beyond the rainy season was once a difficult ambition. They had to pool their money to buy plastic sheets to collect and preserve water for irrigating small portions of their farmland, leaving their production dependent on the quantity of water they could save.
“We always had the desire to farm, but we lacked the means,” Haruna said.
When rainfall was insufficient, dry-season farming often became impossible, depriving farmers of opportunities to grow additional crops, generate income and provide employment within their communities.
That situation is gradually changing for Haruna, who says access to irrigation water has improved significantly, eliminating the need to operate a generator to pump water to his farmland.
“You just turn the valve, and water flows right into your field,” he said.
Haruna currently cultivates carrots before planting onions, tomatoes and peppers on the same land. With a more dependable water supply, he hopes to expand into rice and wheat production, crops he previously considered difficult to cultivate because of water shortages.
For him, access to irrigation represents more than an opportunity to grow additional crops. It offers greater control over planting schedules and the possibility of earning a living for longer periods of the year without depending entirely on rainfall.
His experience reflects the broader objectives of an intervention around the Tiga, Challawa Gorge and Kafin Chiri dams, where irrigation rehabilitation and expansion are being combined with road construction, erosion control and agricultural support.
The intervention is overseen by the Ecological Project Office under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. Contractors are responsible for civil works, while the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) provides technical support to farmers.
The initiative is intended to improve agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods by addressing some of the infrastructure and knowledge gaps that have historically constrained farming communities.
However, access to water alone will not guarantee higher earnings. Farmers must also manage production costs, maintain soil fertility, secure suitable agricultural inputs and transport their produce to markets where they can obtain reasonable prices.
Haruna says improved irrigation has reduced the need to leave his community in search of work. While his experience illustrates the potential for year-round farming to support rural employment, the wider impact on migration and household incomes will require further evidence.
The cost of production also remains a concern. Although Haruna no longer needs a generator to deliver irrigation water, expenditure on seeds, fertiliser, labour and transportation continues to influence how much farmers ultimately earn.
Consequently, an increase in the quantity of crops produced does not automatically translate into improved household finances.
Professor Lucky Osabuohien Omoigui, a plant breeding and genetics specialist at IITA’s Kano station, says farmers must receive appropriate training to maximise the benefits of irrigation infrastructure.
“But you need to train them on how to use the water effectively, productively,” he said.
IITA’s intervention covers water management, crop management, soil fertility and improved agricultural practices across 16 local government areas. The institute reports 1,890 beneficiaries overall, including 501 smallholder farmers who have received training.
Eight farmer field schools and 86 demonstration plots have also been established to give farmers practical opportunities to learn and assess improved cultivation techniques.
These activities provide a foundation for improving agricultural practices, but their lasting impact will depend on how widely farmers adopt the lessons and whether they can continue applying them after the initial intervention ends.
Omoigui said some farmers were initially reluctant to make their land available for demonstration activities. For households whose livelihoods depend on each harvest, experimenting with unfamiliar farming methods can carry considerable risks.
Demonstration plots help reduce that uncertainty by allowing farmers to observe how particular techniques and crop varieties perform under local conditions before adopting them on a larger scale.
Omoigui also emphasised that improved crop varieties must be suited to the environment and the preferences of the farmers expected to cultivate them. A variety’s technical advantages alone may not be sufficient to persuade farmers to abandon familiar practices.
He cautioned that the full benefits of the intervention would take time to assess.
“So, you will see the effect maybe in two or three years,” he said.
The observation highlights the importance of evaluating the initiative across several farming seasons rather than relying exclusively on early reports of improved access to water or initial harvests.
Maintaining soil fertility will also be essential as irrigation allows farmers to cultivate their land more frequently.
Omoigui warned that repeatedly planting cereals on the same farmland can deplete soil nutrients. He advocated cereal-legume crop rotation and appropriate fertiliser management to sustain productivity.
Without these measures, farmers could find that the benefits of additional planting seasons are gradually undermined by declining soil fertility, higher input costs and reduced yields.
Training must therefore extend beyond irrigation techniques to cover crop selection, fertiliser application, soil management and the availability of inputs needed to implement recommended practices.
Improved transportation is another important component of the intervention, particularly for farmers who must move perishable produce from rural communities to markets.
Abdullahi Hamza, a farmer in Gana, recalled the difficulties of transporting agricultural produce to Bakin-Fa when road conditions deteriorated, particularly during the rainy season.
He said onions were sometimes damaged during journeys because of the poor roads.
“By the time we reached the market, they would be crushed and spoiled,” he said.
According to Hamza, road repairs have made it easier to transport produce by motorcycle and car, potentially reducing some of the difficulties farmers experience when moving their harvests.
His account illustrates how poor road infrastructure can undermine the value of agricultural production even after farmers have successfully cultivated and harvested their crops.
Improved roads and drainage can also benefit businesses serving rural communities.
Hafsat Yakubu, a businesswoman in Kwanar-Dangora, said flooding previously prevented customers from accessing her street. She said drainage improvements had made movement easier and helped improve access to her business.
Although the accounts do not provide measured figures on changes in sales or post-harvest losses, they highlight the relationship between infrastructure, rural commerce and agricultural livelihoods.
At Darki, Adamu Salisu of Firm and Resolute Engineering described a 1.5-kilometre market bypass designed to ease traffic congestion on Thursdays. He said road markings were still outstanding when he spoke about the project.
The bypass is significant because increased agricultural production can create additional demand for transportation, storage facilities and market access. Reliable irrigation may help farmers grow more food, but roads and other supporting infrastructure determine how efficiently that produce reaches buyers.
Residents of Sumaila town have also described the difficulties caused by gully erosion and inaccessible roads. Ado Ibrahim, a resident, recalled having to carry household belongings by hand because vehicles could not enter his neighbourhood.
The construction of roads and erosion-control infrastructure under the Renewed Hope Agenda, implemented through the Ecological Project Office under the leadership of Permanent Secretary Dr Aishetu Gogo Ndayako, has improved accessibility, allowing residents to move more freely.
Nevertheless, the long-term value of these improvements will depend on the durability of the infrastructure and the arrangements for maintaining it.
At Kafin Chiri, Jibril Muhammad Ibrahim, lead site engineer for ECL Construction Limited, said the main canal had been completed while work continued on distribution and field channels.
He put the rehabilitation of the embankment section at 80 per cent completion, clarifying that the figure applied specifically to that section rather than the entire intervention.
For farmers, the distinction is important. Completing a main canal does not necessarily mean every farm will receive sufficient water at the right time. Smaller distribution channels, functioning irrigation structures and effective water-allocation arrangements are equally important.
Maintenance will also become a recurring responsibility. Channels must be cleared, damaged structures repaired and technical problems addressed promptly to prevent interruptions to irrigation.
The Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority has supported engagement with water user associations and dam managers on operations and maintenance. Whether these arrangements can be sustained over successive farming seasons will be a major test of the intervention’s long-term effectiveness.
Equitable water distribution will be equally important. Farmers need clear and workable rules for sharing available water and resolving disputes, particularly where those cultivating plots farther along distribution channels could face disadvantages.
Women’s participation also requires attention beyond overall beneficiary figures.
IITA reports that women account for 20 per cent of its overall beneficiaries, while 97 of the 501 trained farmers are women. Although the figures indicate participation, they do not establish whether women have equal control over irrigated farmland, reliable access to water or decision-making power over income generated from agricultural production.
Ensuring that the benefits reach different groups of farmers will be important in determining whether the initiative produces broad-based improvements in rural livelihoods.
For Haruna and other farmers in Kumfada, the immediate change is the increased availability of irrigation water and the opportunity to consider crops that were previously difficult to cultivate.
The prospect of planting beyond the rainy season could create additional employment, increase the availability of food and help farming households generate income for longer periods.
But the decisive test will be whether those opportunities remain viable after several harvests.
Reliable water supplies, healthy soils, practical agricultural training, maintained infrastructure, fair distribution systems and access to profitable markets will all influence the outcome.
For Haruna, turning a valve and watching water flow into his field represents a significant change from the days when farmers pooled their money to collect and preserve scarce water.
Whether that change becomes a lasting improvement in household income will depend on what happens next: whether farmers can continue producing successfully, sell their crops at worthwhile prices and maintain the infrastructure that has made another farming season possible.
