to meet the present and future needs of our teeming population through application of appropriate
technologies, integrated water resources development, good water governance and environment
friendly development strategies.
The 2013 National Water Resources Master Plan indicated that Nigeria is endowed with
abundant water resources estimated at 340 billion cubic meters for surface water resources while
the ground water is estimated to be 100 billion cubic meters. Of the total annual renewable water
resources, 77.2% is estimated to be produced locally while the rest is surface water coming in from
neighbouring countries. In sum total, Nigeria has about 1,800m3/capital/year of total renewable water
resources, which is well above the 1,000m3/capital/year typically used to define water scarcity.
Based on the above statistics, it is therefore the responsibility of the Ministry and various agencies
in the sector to harness the nation’s water resources potentials for the benefit of all.
Similarly, as part of the efforts to mitigate, resettle and address one of the underlying causes
of the situation in the North East, the Ministry has accelerated its activities in Lake Chad. The Lake
Chad Basin Water Transfer project from River Banqui in Central African Republic has received
greater impetus as one of the strategic means of addressing the security challenges in the North
East. Among other benefits, the resuscitation of the Lake Chad Basin will impact on the livelihood of
more than 40 million people living in the region as well as mitigate the rate of desertification
southward. In this regard, the project is a key component of the overall efforts to address the
challenges of climate change. Relatedly, this forms part of the initiative geared towards reducing and
mitigating the incidents of flooding and drought in the country.
National Irrigation and Drainage Policy and Strategy, 2016
Nigeria’s irrigation and drainage policy and the strategy for its implementation are designed
to reposition the sub-sector and open up the investment space for intensified and diversified irrigated
agriculture in Nigeria where there is clear comparative advantage. The policy is designed to
accomplish this by addressing eight key ‘problem’ areas concerning the formal, informal, farmerowned and managed irrigation, and the consultative review.
The policy is predicated on a commitment to decentralization of irrigation services, and
private-sector participation.
Irrigation Policy goal: Sustainable growth and enhanced performance of irrigation
contributing fully to the goal of the Nigerian agriculture sector.
Policy Target: national food security: intensified and diversified production of agricultural
commodities; increased livelihood options; optimum natural resource use; reduced negative
environmental impacts; and expanded investment space for irrigation productions. Policy
beneficiaries: The Nigerian economy as a whole and all existing and potential irrigators and related
user groups, including private sector service providers. This document presents the Irrigation and
Drainage Policy and Strategy for improving irrigation and drainage development and management
in Nigeria in order to achieve the broad goals of the agricultural sector, which are: (a) food and raw
materials security; (b) increased employment; (c) creation of wealth and poverty alleviation; and (d)
greater contribution to GDP, foreign exchange reserve and government revenue. it addresses the
120