KNSG has signed a MoU with Galilee National Management Institute of Israel for Water Resources Management.
Kano State government has signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Galilee National Management Institute of Israel
for water resource management.
Shortly after signing the agreement on behalf of the
state government, governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, stressed that the
state is ready to develop irrigation to enhance the competitiveness
of the local economy and to alleviate poverty.
“Kano state has agricultural resource endowments
comprising of about 1, 7 million hectares of arable land, 982 000
hectares of inland waters and 72 000 hectares of forest cover, which
are grossly underutilized for food security, job creation and export,”
he maintained.
He stressed that the state has irrigation facilities
including over 20 dams, which if put into good use, cannot only feed
the state but also provide huge agricultural output for export.
The governor stated that because Kano is the most
populous state in Nigeria and owing to its dwindling allocation from
the Federation Account coupled with the Federal government’s policy on
limiting importation of rice and wheat, signing of the MOU with the
Israeli institute could not have come at a better time than now.
Dr Ganduje stressed pointed out that his
administration has taken steps to encourage wheat and rice cultivation
in the state throughout the year hoping that the farmers in Kano
would learn from the expertise that the Israeli institute would offer.
The governor also indicated interest to work with the
Israeli partners in the area of domestic animals’ insemination to
enhance the quality of dairy products, meat and allied goods in the
state.
Earlier, the President of the Institute, Dr Joseph
Shevel said that the institution is a leading public training
organization that offers advanced courses to professionals in several
fields, assuring that with the MoU, it would train the indigenes of
Kano on technical proficiency in irrigation.
He announced that the institute would offer free scholarships to 100 indigenes of the state.
Shevel said his country Israel is highly advanced in
agriculture, pointing out that about 50 percent of pepper consumed in
Europe is exported from Israel.
He was optimistic that the relationship between Kano state government and his institute would be mutually beneficial.
