The Kano River Irrigation Project, a special ecological intervention under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, is rehabilitating irrigation infrastructure at three major dams in southern Kano. Implemented by the Ecological Project Office, the initiative targets the Tiga, Kafin Chiri, and Challawa Gorge dams to expand cultivation and strengthen food security across 16 local government areas. According to Punch, the project focuses on converting underused water assets into productive agricultural systems to support rural livelihoods.
The intervention involves significant engineering works at each site. At Tiga Dam, new irrigation sectors are being opened at Yakasai, Gwamma, and Gurjiya, serving approximately 875 hectares with extensive canal networks. At Challawa Gorge, engineers are constructing canals and access roads for 240 hectares of irrigable land, while Kafin Chiri is seeing the development of 165 hectares across the Kunpada, Matanfa, and Maida sectors. Punch notes that the project addresses the long-standing challenge of conveying water from these reservoirs to the fields, a gap that had persisted since the dams were completed between 1974 and 1992.
Beyond canal construction, the project includes a watershed management programme that has delivered 5,380 tube wells and pumping machines to serve about 16,140 households. The Ecological Project Office reports an average completion rate of 99.7 percent for these components, which provide water for dry-season cultivation in communities such as Garko, Sumaila, and Rano. Additionally, more than 30 erosion and flood control works are being implemented to improve access to markets and schools in areas like Zambur and Karaye.
The initiative also includes capacity building for local farmers. Punch reports that 1,890 farmers have benefited from climate-smart agricultural support through a partnership with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, while 501 smallholder farmers received training in soil fertility and water harvesting. The Hadejia Jama’are River Basin Development Authority provides technical supervision, validating designs and training water user associations to ensure the long-term maintenance of the schemes. As described in the report, "The challenge was never the water," but rather the infrastructure needed to deliver it to agricultural land.