Poverty Alleviation and Socio-economic Impacts of Dams Among Farmers in Nigeria

摘要

The effort in Nigeria to minimize the constraints of water as an input in agricultural production has led to the development of dams for irrigation. This is based on the premise that irrigated agriculture has the potential to release the food insecurity and alleviate poverty in Nigeria. This paper examines the impacts of dam in terms of poverty alleviation and other socio-economic effects. A multistage sampling technique was used to select 320 farmers from areas around the dams in Nigeria. An interview schedule based on structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on the impacts of dam for poverty alleviation and other socio economic effects. The results of the study show that several unintended consequences were recorded by the farmers around the dams such that some are worse off than they were left alone on the other hand remarkable impacts were recorded in terms of increase in acreage, reduction in dependency on raw fed agriculture, reduction in the off-season period and increase in income. The paper concludes with the practical suggestion of how dam could be more effective in achieving food security and positively impact the socio-economic life of the people