Enugu Govt, rice farmers lament destruction of AfDB-funded canal, farmlands by herders

Enugu, Dec. 23, 2024

The Enugu State Government and Rice farmers in the state have expressed worry over the destruction of farmlands and a canal by herders at the Ada Rice Farm in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation, Dr Patrick Ubru, made the remarks while reacting to the destruction in Enugu on Monday.

Ubru said that it was quite pathetic that cattle had destroyed a canal rehabilitated through the state government’s counterpart funds running into several millions of naira.

He noted that his ministry was already working to repair the damaged canal, adding that the government was determined to make the Ada Rice Irrigation System work for the farmers and the state in general.

He said, “one wonders why herders will allow their cattle to destroy a canal just rehabilitated through counterpart funding and which holds the livelihood of farmers and their families in the area.

“We were in the process of taking statistics of farmers in that area, who will use the irrigation system for early next year’s dry season farming before the unfortunate incident.

“We are not deterred, as we are working to get security personnel; vigilance groups, forest guards and others in that area to ensure it does not repeat itself and that the huge investment works for our dry season rice farmers.”

The 22.45km long canal lining project was undertaken by the Federal Government under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Program Phase-One (ATASP-1) with funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The project was designed to provide steady water supply to the 1,500 hectares of rice field for dry season farming in the agrarian Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State.

It was gathered that while the project was awaiting official commissioning and farmers were getting prepared for commencement of the first dry season farming early next year, cattle recently invaded the area, wreaking havoc on the farmlands and the irrigation facility.

A farmer, who spoke under condition of anonymity, disclosed that the activities of cattle and their herders posed a serious threat to the Federal Government’s quest to turn the irrigation area into a major rice production hub.

“We are still celebrating the completion of this gigantic irrigation project and making plans to commence dry season farming but what we are seeing in the rice farmlands are scary.

“Apart from the fact that they flooded the area with cattle, a lot of damages have already been done to the canal by cattle trying to cross through it.

“The rate at which they are going, I doubt if that facility can adequately supply water to the rice fields because of the breaches along the canal lines,” he said.

Another farmer, who gave his name as Chief Ben, called on the Federal, state and local government authorities to urgently come to their rescue to avert a major set back.

“I speak on behalf of other farmers in Uzo-Uwani council area whose lives and means of livelihood are in danger as a result of the activities of cattle in our farmlands. We are calling for urgent measures to address this challenge.”

He said that the situation is a major challenge because they have witnessed a lot of disruptions as a result of cattle and herders’ activities, and that despite repeated calls for them to steer clear of the area and allow them to operate, the herders have persisted in their destructive activities.

“We believe this will derail the Federal Government’s aim to make this area a rice production hub,” he said.

A female farmer, Mrs. Roseline Monday, disclosed that she abandoned her rice farm last season due to frequent attacks and killings in the area.

“We have been living in fear in recent times and could not visit our farms in far places because of attacks taking place there.

“Now, we were excited that the canal had been completed and that we can start dry season farming, but that excitement has gone because of these cows that are roaming about everywhere.

“It is a big threat to our farming activities. Apart from damages they do to our crops, they are also destroying the canal which could also disrupt water flow through the channels to our farms,” she added.

A youth farmer, who identified himself simply as Ifeanyi, stressed that most farmers are living in fear as a result of the development because of impending clashes that may escalate as a result of the activities of the herders and their cattle in the area.

“We are begging the government to come fast and rescue us from the hands of cattle rearers and their animals.

“We don’t want to fight anyone. We just want to farm on our lands. But these animals pose a great threat to that,” he said.