ASSESSMENT OF GROUNDWATER USE BY CROP FARMERS IN EBONYI STATE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

In this study, a critical assessment of the use of groundwater by crop farmers was done. The objectives of this study were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of crop farmers in the study area, assess the cost of groundwater used by crop farmers in the study area, examine crop farmers perception of groundwater use in the study area, determine socio-economic factors influencing use of groundwater by crop farmers in the study area and identify constraint factors mitigating crop farmers use of groundwater in the study area. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select a total of eighty (80) respondents used for the study. Data for the study was collected with the use of well-structured questionnaires. The statistical  tools  that  were  used  include  descriptive  statistics  such  as  percentages,  mean, relative frequencies, and inferential statistics such as probit regression model.  The result of the socio-economic distributions of the respondents according to their age showed that the majority (57.5%) of the household heads were within the age range of 21-40 years. The average age was 43 years. The distribution of the respondents according to marital status showed that the majority (80%) of the respondents were married, while (12.5%) of them were widowed and (7.5%) were single. According to household size, greater proportion (41.25%) of the respondents had household sizes of between 1 and 5 persons. In terms of years spent in school by the respondents, the average years spent in school was 9 years. The result in terms of gender also indicated that the majority (85%) of the respondents were males while (15.5%) were females. In terms of experience, the distribution of the respondents showed that highest proportion of respondents (36.25%) had farming experience of 6 to 10 years. The average year of farming experience was 11 years. With regard to membership of cooperative society, it was found that greater proportion of the respondents (66.25%) belonged to a cooperative society while (33.75%) did not belong to any cooperative society. Findings from the analysis also showed that the average total cost of groundwater technology incurred was ₦49,383 per cycle (usually six months) by the respondents. The respondents age, farm size, type of crop grown, and revenue significantly influence their use of groundwater. Based on this finding, the null hypothesis that socio-economic characteristics of the respondents do not have significant influence on their use of groundwater in the study area was rejected. Lack of capital and high cost of equipment was identified as chief constraint to use of groundwater. Based on these findings it was recommended that accessible sources of capital should be made available to the crop farmers and prospective investors in the study area, so as to enable them expand their production and take advantage of opportunities as they come and there should be training and re-training on irrigation and groundwater harvesting techniques among the crop farmers in the area, through better extension service delivery, for better harvesting.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Based on source and location, water has been classified into two (2) major categories, namely: Surface water and groundwater. Surface water includes rivers, lakes, streams, and reservoirs. Groundwater on the other hand includes all the water beneath the earth surface. Recently, due to the decline in the availability of surface water, owing to climate change, groundwater was considered instrumental to the partial success of millennium Development Goal of halving the number of people in the world without access to clean water (Omole,

2013). The overall demand for groundwater has increased dramatically over the past four decades, notably with the introduction of advanced drilling and pumping technology (Nwankwoala, 2016). About 15 years ago, some 50 percent of all urban water use worldwide was attributed to well, spring and borehole sources (Clarke, Lawrence & Foster, 1996).

More  recently  it  has  been  suggested  that  groundwater  is  the  primary  source  of drinking water to nearly half of the world’s population and, as the dominant source of water to irrigated land, is also critical to global food security (International Association of Hydrogeologist (IAH), 2010). In many urban areas in Sub-Saharan Africa, groundwater is the preferred source for piped water supplies (Morris, Lawrence, Chilton, Adam, Calow, & Klinck 2003; Adelana, 2009). In addition 36 percent of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region’s urban dwellers have been estimated to rely on groundwater (Braune & Xu, 2008), and at least 50 cities on the African continent could not function without the water provided by aquifer system (Morris et al., 2003).

Infact, more than half of the world’s megacities (metropolitan areas with more than 10 million inhabitants) depend on groundwater, in the sense that it constitutes at least a quarter of these cities’ water supply (Nwankwoala, 2011). In China’s 660 cities more than 400 rely

on groundwater to some extent, and in the northern provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and Liaoning as well as the municipal region of Beijing, more than 50 percent of the total water supply comes from groundwater (Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources,

2005, cited in Sun, 2009). Among Latin American cities depending heavily on their aquifers are San José, Lima, Santiago and Buenos Aires (Morris et al., 2003). It has been held that in India, half of the urban population depends on groundwater (Central Ground Water Board,

2006; Indian Ministry of Water Resources, 2006). Similarly, in Asia the bulk of groundwater use is in irrigated agriculture while in the rest of the world it is for urban and industrial purposes (Shah, Burke & Villholth, 2007). Factors which have made groundwater use quite attractive is the relatively cheap cost of getting the water rather than piping or channeling the water from a surface water body over long distances. The reliable supply of groundwater, uniform quality and temperature, relative turbidity and pollution free, minimal evaporation losses, and somewhat low cost of development are attributes making  groundwater more attractive when compared to surface water (Nwankwoala, 2016).

For instance, in Africa’s arid and semi-arid regions, groundwater is seen as the most precious of natural resources and the only realistic and affordable means of providing reliable water supply, given ‘the ephemeral nature of surface water’ (Adelana & MacDonald, 2008). The development of groundwater is forecasted to increase dramatically in an attempt to improve agricultural water supply coverage (Adelana, 2009; Foster, 2008). In  Nigeria,  groundwater  is  one  of  the  most  important  natural  resource  and  an important source of water for domestic supply and agriculture. There is a very large groundwater potential in Nigeria, far greater than the surface water resources, it accounts for more than 40 percent of the Nation’s public water supply. In addition, more than 40 million people,  including  most  of  the  rural  population,  supply  their  own  drinking  water  from domestic wells. It is the most preferred source of water to meet the requirements of various user sectors in Nigeria including agriculture (Nwankwoala, 2016).

Due to shortage and inconsistencies in surface water supplies, groundwater acts as the mainstay  for  agriculture.  For  many  important  agricultural  production  areas,  it  offers reliability and flexibility in access to water for crop production. Groundwater will remain the ultimate source of freshwater when surface water sources have been depleted. The aquifers that host groundwater are the primary buffers against drought for both human requirements, and agricultural production (Shah, 2009).

Furthermore as opined by Nwankwoala (2016) aquifer development will continue to be fundamental to economic development and reliable water supplies will be needed for domestic, industrial and irrigation purposes. It should also be noted that in some cities, notably  in  Sub-Saharan  African  countries  including  Nigeria,  groundwater  is  used  for irrigation in urban and peri-urban Agriculture, both for subsistence farming and for growing cash crops (Cofie & Drechse, 2007; Drechse & Varma, 2007).

1.2     Problem Statement

Irrigation development is being promoted because of its potential to increase farmers’ incomes, improve food security, and enhance the livelihoods of rural families throughout Nigeria (Nwankwoala, 2016). Many of the existing traditional and modern irrigation schemes are small and obtain water from river diversions. Spring water and more especially groundwater as sources for irrigation are underutilized. For example, in Ebonyi State where groundwater is abundant, vegetables (mostly onions and tomatoes) and, horticulture crops (fruit and fodder trees) are only irrigated with surface water from perennial rivers. Therefore, only farmers with land near these rivers profit from irrigation, while others must wait until the rainy season to cultivate their crops, mostly cereals and tubers (Obiora, Ibuot, Nyakno & Offiah, 2015).

As the demand for irrigation water increases due to the expanding number of farmers, the stream flow decreases significantly, especially from February to April. Therefore, the utilization of groundwater sources for crop production may aid in the expansion of irrigated land and enhance water availability. However, to assure that the use of groundwater is a feasible and sustainable solution, this study identified the major opportunities and constraints of the community in utilizing groundwater for irrigated crop production in the high ground water potential region of Ebonyi State.

Previous studies on groundwater resources in Nigeria focused on extent and distribution of groundwater resources (Nfor, Olobaniyi & Ogala, 2007) and Groundwater resource quality assessment (Akoteyon & Soladoye, 2011; Adesuyi, Nnodu, Akinola, Njoku

& Jolaoso, 2015; Taiwo, Adeogun, Olatunde & Adegbite, 2011; Nwankwoala & Ngah,2014; Aladejana & Talabi, 2013;Ishaku, 2011) and sustainable groundwater exploitation (Omole,2013) without examining the major opportunities and constraints of crop farmers in utilizing  groundwater  for  crop  production.  To  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  no  existing empirical study has been done to assess the level of groundwater use for agricultural purposes among farmers in the Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

This study therefore, examined these concerns and explored the opportunities and constraints of crop farmers utilization of groundwater for crop production in the high groundwater potential region of Ebonyi State.

In view of the above this study gave answer to the following research questions with respect to Ebonyi State;

i.          What are the costs of groundwater technology used by crop farmers in the study area?

ii.          What are crop farmers’ perceptions of groundwater use in the study area?

iii.           What are the socio-economic determinants influencing use of groundwater by crop farmers in the study area?

iv.          What type of Agricultural house hold use groundwater in the study area? and

v.           What are the constraints factors mitigating crop farmers use of groundwater in the study area?

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The broad objective of the study was to assess groundwater use by crop farmers in Ebonyi

State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to:

i.      describe the socio-economic characteristics of crop farmers using groundwater;

ii.      assess the cost of groundwater used by crop farmers;

iii.     examine crop farmers perception of groundwater use;

iv.      determine socio-economic factors influencing use of groundwater by crop farmers;

v.      identify constraints militating crop farmers use of groundwater in the study area.

1.4    Hypothesis of the Study

The following null hypothesis was tested:

HO1:  Socio-economic characteristics of crop farmers do not have significant influence on their use of groundwater in the study area;

1.5       Justification of the Study

Water availability in the face of frequently occurring and scourging dry season in water stress communities is very important to Agricultural health, sanitation and for effective use  of  community  man-hours  and  man-days.  Moreover,  the  poverty  reduction  strategy adopted in 1999 enjoins donor agencies to continue to support governments in developing countries in participatory manner for effective management of critical natural resources, including water (Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN), 2011). However, very few statistics is available on groundwater resources use by farmers in rural communities of Ebonyi State. This problem should be a thing of concern for national policy makers and researchers. The national irrigation policy is predicated on boosting domestic agricultural production using irrigation to produce quality and quantity food where rain fed production alone cannot meet demand. The importance of irrigation Agriculture for a country having an Agricultural- led industrialization policy but dependent on rainfall for much of its cultivation is undeniable (Federal   Government   irrigation   target,   2017).   Irrigation   development   involving   the construction  of  dams  and  river  diversions  can  be  expensive  and  often  limited  to  the production of highly valuable crops (Mikinay, 2008). However, in areas where access to irrigation water is easy, such as areas with high groundwater tables or springs irrigation systems  can  be  implemented  rather  inexpensively.  Thus,  groundwater  has  become  an important water source for irrigation and it is an integral part of the strategy to overcome food scarcity in many developing countries (Nata, Bheemalingeswara & Asmelash, 2009). Therefore, this research if assessed by farmers will help them to know the importance and contribution of groundwater to their production and also change their behaviour towards adopting new strategies to manage their groundwater resources. Moreover, the findings of this study will form a source of reference to students and researchers and a basis for further studies on related subjects. To policy makers, this study will help them formulate policies that will enhance conservation and use of ground water to increase Agricultural productivity in Nigeria.

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