Can integrated water resource management work for irrigation projects in Nigeria?

Integrated water resource management is an increasingly popular approach in developing countries. This approach, which recognises the links between land use and water resources, is used to manage the many competing demands on water resources. Despite this popularity, it has been criticised as being inflexible and difficult to adapt to widely differing circumstances around the world.

Nigeria is divided into 18river basin development authorities. Each authority has responsibility fordeveloping and managing water resources, including irrigation projects, dams,water supplies, fisheries and pollution. Research from the University of Uyoin Nigeriaexamines irrigation schemes that use the integrated water resource management(IWRM) approach. The research focused on irrigation projects in the Cross RiverBasin, where 80 percent of the population work inagriculture.

The Cross River BasinDevelopment Authority (CRBDA) has focused on developing dams, boreholes andirrigation infrastructure. However, many other important issues have beenoverlooked by the CRBDA, such as erosion, flooding and pollution. Furthermore,many farmers have been displaced from their land by CRBDA projects.

Four large-scale irrigationprojects currently function in the area, aiming to improve farming systems andincrease food supply. These have been largely unsuccessful, however. Few peopleuse them and the authority has not been able to recover costs through chargingfor water.

There are several reasons forthis failure:

• Water is readilyavailable in the areas chosen for irrigation projects, so users have noincentive to pay the government to use the new facilities. The governmenttherefore has little incentive to invest in these facilities.
• Funding for theCRBDA has been inadequate and irregular. There is a lot of land set aside fordams and irrigation, but often no money to start these projects. Corruption hasmeant that some funds and revenue have gone missing.
• Compensation forthe land has not been paid properly, so the CRBDA has not been able to claimfull control of certain lands and resources.
• The CRBDA has nocontrol over many water resources, meaning anyone can use them without permissionand integrated management is impossible.

Less than four percent of theland acquired by the CRBDA has been developed. Many projects have not developedbeyond the design stage. This demonstrates how IWRM will fail if funds areinadequate or managed corruptly, or projects are placed in areas where they arenot needed. The researcher recommends:

• Irrigationprojects should be placed where water is scarce, with several small projectsinstead of a few large-scale projects. Placing projects where they are neededwould increase their use and improve cost recovery, as users would be willingto pay.
• The governmentmust commit sufficient funds to water management, and ensure these areregularly available to ensure that policies remain consistent.
• Local needs andcircumstances should determine where IWRM projects are placed, not politicalinterests.