The Anambra government says it will reactivate existing dams and enhance irrigation farming in the state in partnership with the federal government to boost food production.

The partnership is under the Sustainable Power and Irrigation for Nigeria (SPIN), a World Bank project expected to begin in 2025 to address the nation’s food sufficiency challenges.

The leader of the SPIN project, Stella Arachie, said during an engagement meeting in Awka that the team visited the state to discuss the issue with the state government.

Ms Arachie, the deputy director of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said the project focused on dam safety and irrigation and studies for hydropower in the nation.

“We are on an assessment tour to determine a suitable location for the reactivation of a water source/dam in Anambra.

“Some of the requirements for the establishment of the project are the availability of water sources in dry season/dam and evidence of land ownership to ensure sustainability.

“Other requirements include the availability of 500 hectares of land, counterpart funding, as well as water users associations and cooperatives, among others,” she said.

Also, Solo Chukwulobelu, the Secretary to the Anambra State Government, said the government would do the needful to ensure the people benefited from the project.

“The state government is ready to key into the five-year project, to resuscitate existing Federal Government water source/dam for production of crops, especially rice and maize,” Mr Chukwulobelu said.

Contributing, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Forster Ihejiofor, said the state had enough dams in Ogboji, Ufuma and Ifite Ogwari/Omor to meet the requirements for establishing the SPIN project.

Mr Ihejiofor said the dams had the stipulated requirements and potential for all-year-round irrigation farming.

“The Ifite Ogwari pumping station had already been supported by the ATAPS-1 project with canals and channels,” he said.

A six-man preparatory team, drawn from the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Anambra-Imo River Basin Development Authority under SPIN, was constituted for the project.

The SPIN project team, with state government officials, visited the Ogboji and Ifite Ogwari/Omor dams to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of the areas.

Ogboji is in the Orumba South Local Government Area, while Ifite Ogwari and Omor communities are in the Ayamelum Local Government Area of the state.

(NAN)