The Tiga Dam is in

Kano State Kano State (Hausa: ''Jihar Kano''جىِهَر كَنوُ) (Fula: Leydi Kano 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤢𞤲𞤮𞥅 ) is one of the 36 states of Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajee ...

in the Northwest of

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, constructed in 1971–1974. It is a major reservoir on the

Kano River The is an A class river in Shizuoka Prefecture of central Japan. It is long and has a watershed of . The Kano River originates from Mount Amagi in central Izu Peninsula and follows a generally northern path into Suruga Bay at Numazu is ...

, the main tributary of the

Hadejia River The Hadejia River (Hausa: ) is a river in northern Nigeria and is a tributary of the Yobe River (Komadugu Yobe). Among the cities and towns that lie on or near its banks are Hadejia and Nguru. Damming of the river for the purposes of irrigatio ...

Jnsb EXPORT 170082733739269 20200415 150009285

Description

The dam was built during the administration of Governor Audu Bako in an attempt to improve

food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World ...

through irrigation projects. The dam covers an area of with maximum capacity of nearly . Water from the dam supplies the Kano River Irrigation Project as well as

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...

City.

Downstream impact

Several studies have shown that the dam has delivered negative economic value when its effect on downstream communities was taken into account. On completion of the dam the river flow downstream at

Gashua Gashua is a community in Yobe State in northeastern Nigeria, on the Yobe River a few miles below the convergence of the Hadejia River and the Jama'are River. Average elevation is about 299 m. The population in 2006 was about 125,000. The hottest ...

Yobe State Yobe is a state located in northeastern Nigeria. A mainly agricultural state, it was created on 27 August 1991. Yobe State was carved out of Borno State. The capital of Yobe State is Damaturu; and it's largest and most populated city is Poti ...

fell by about per year due to upstream irrigation and by more than due to evaporation from the reservoir. A study published in 1999 concluded that farmers in the downstream floodplain had adapted their agriculture, helped by new technology, but the increased level of production might not be sustainable. The Hadejia-Nguru wetlands further downstream have considerable economic and ecological importance. They are home to about one million people living by wet-season rice farming, agriculture at other seasons, fishing and cattle grazing by

Fulani The Fula, Fulani, or Fulɓe people ( ff, Fulɓe, ; french: Peul, links=no; ha, Fulani or Hilani; pt, Fula, links=no; wo, Pël; bm, Fulaw) are one of the largest ethnic groups in the Sahel and West Africa, widely dispersed across the region. ...

people. The dam has damaged the cycle, reducing fish catches and harvests of other wetland products. In August 2009, Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan of Yobe North, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, stated that the Tiga Dam had reduced water flow in the Kano River by about 50%. The senator was speaking in opposition to the proposed

Kafin Zaki Dam The Kafin Zaki Dam is a controversial project to build a reservoir on the Jama'are River (also called the Bunga River in its upper reaches) in Bauchi State in the Northeast of Nigeria. Proposed dam and reservoir The proposed dam would be of z ...

on the Jama'are River, the other main tributary of the Yobe River. He said the Tiga and Challawa Dams had caused intense poverty, increased desert encroachment, migration and conflicts between arable farmers and herdsmen. He noted that the Yobe River no longer flows into Lake Chad. It is estimated that Lake Chad will dry up completely within 40 years. More than 30 million people derive their livelihood from the

Lake Chad Basin The Chad Basin is the largest endorheic basin in Africa, centered on Lake Chad. It has no outlet to the sea and contains large areas of semi-arid desert and savanna. The drainage basin is roughly coterminous with the sedimentary basin of the same ...

through fishing, raising live stock and farming. A study group to examine the problem was established in November 2008, visiting the Tiga dam and other locations.

References

{{Dams in Nigeria Dams in Nigeria Kano State Yobe State Dams completed in 1974