Kano state government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Galilee National Management Institute of Israel on water resource management to boost irrigation farming in the state.
Spokesperson of the Kano State governor, Halilu Ibrahim Dantiye, in a statement explained that shortly after signing the MOU, the Kano state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje noted that the state is ready to develop the agricultural sector through irrigation farming so as to enhance the competitiveness of the local economy and to alleviate poverty in the state.
It stated that, Kano state has agricultural resource endowments comprising of about 1, 754, 200 hectares of arable land; 982, 600 hectares of inland waters and 72, 072 hectares of forest cover which are grossly underutilized for food security, job creation and export – adding that the state also has irrigation facilities including over 20 dams, which if utilized, cannot only feed the state but the country as whole and also provide huge agricultural output for export.
Ganduje stressed that, Kano state being one of the populous state in Nigeria has a dwindling allocation from the Federation Account as such; signing of the MOU with the Israeli institute could not have come at a better time than now. He pointed out that since there is a ban on the importation of rice and wheat, his administration has taken steps to encourage wheat and rice cultivation throughout the year hoping that the farmers in Kano would learn from the expertise that the Israeli institute would offer.
The statement also noted that the governor indicated interest to work with the Israeli partners in the area of domestic animals’ insemination to enhance the quality of dairy products, meat and allied goods in the state.
Earlier, President of the Institute, Joseph Shevel, noted that the institution is a leading public training organization that offers advanced courses to professionals in several fields. He assured that, with the MOU, it would train indigenes of Kano on technical proficiency in irrigation farming; saying that, “the institute would offer free scholarships to 100 indigenes of the state.”
While expressing optimisms on the signed agreement, Shevel said his country, Israel is highly advanced in agriculture, adding that, about 50 percent of pepper consumed in Europe is exported from Israel.
