By Jabiru Hassan, Kano
The coalition of farmers and herdsmen around the Kunnawa Dam has called on the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMRD) to repair the Kunnawa Dam which broke down last week as a result of a downpour.
NatureNews in a series of interactions with the both sides spoke with Malam Muhammad Mai Albasa who represents the farmers and Ardo Alhaji Geza who represents the herdsmen.
Both leaders appealed to the ministry to repair and expand the dam for dry season farming and livestock consumption.
Similarly, the farmers and herdsmen that reside at the bottom of the dam revealed that when the dam was in good condition, migration from rural to urban locations was reduced because there were employment opportunities while the herdsmen benefited with pastureland available around the dam site which reduced their movements from one place to another in search of pasture.
NatureNews correspondent who visited the dam site gathered that the facility was last repaired in 2018 by the FMARD under the on farm water harvesting structure by the department of climate change but it later broke down after two years due to heavy rainfalls.
As such, the two sides have called on the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to repair the dam so as to enable over 5000 farmers and 200 herders benefit from the Federal Government’s gesture that was meant for rural settlements.