Business Day Nigeria published an article stating that increasing temperature, erratic rainfall, and other extreme events, such as floods and droughts, pose severe threats to Nigeria’s food production, particularly in the central and northern regions where rainfall is limited and agriculture is the backbone of the economy. Solar-powered groundwater irrigation is seen as a potentially groundbreaking disruptive technology, particularly for resource-constrained states, owing to its cleaner energy source and a better distribution than surface water sources. To better understand the potential of accelerating farmer-led irrigation in central and northern Nigeria, IFPRI, with support from the Africa
Climate Investment Facility – World Bank implemented a combined economic-biophysical assessment of groundwater irrigation for both solar and diesel pumps. The study finds a combined profitable irrigated groundwater area of five million hectares for a medium-profitable scenario of rotating production of rice and okra, with more than half of the energy provided by solar systems. “The lifespan of the solar panel, the irrigated cropping pattern, and the location of productive groundwater sources are key factors
determining the profitability of farmer-led irrigation in central and northern Nigeria,” says Bedru Balana, IFPRI Nigeria, a co-author of the study. “If farmers choose more high-value crops, such as pepper and
onion, the profitable area could be even larger,” Balana notes. (See IFPRI Discussion paper, Solar-powered cold-storages and sustainable food system transformation: Evidence from horticulture markets interventions in northeast Nigeria)