LAND TENURE ISSUES IN AND AROUND TOMAS RIVER PROJECT KANO STATE, NIGERIA

This study is rm attempt to investigote lond tenure - reloted problems.
which can be trnced directly and indirect1y to the establishment rmd
management of the Tomas River Project (TRP) in the Dambatta area of
Krmo Stole.
The project is one of a number of lat.;ge-scole irrigation projects
estab1ished in northern Nigeria in the wake of the drought of the 11:1te
1960s and early 1970s. Established in 1979, it aims fit improving the
\Ate1f are of inhabitants of the area, through stimulating increased
agriculturnl productivity. The project pursues a policy of allocating
land, initially expropriated from local inh1:1bitants, to prospective
f armers on a seasonal tenancy.
Data for this study ware collected between October 1988 and ;•
September 1989, using structured rmd unstructured questionnaires ..
supplemented by inf ormal inteP1ievts rmd discussions. A total of 203
people were interviewed. Data collected were analysed using
percent ages, grnphs, etc.
Research fi ndi ngs revea 1 that there i s an excess of demand for
pro j ect p 1 ots over the avail ab 1 e supp 1 y. Di sp laced f armers const ituted
the majority of tenants (57%), but controlled only about one-thlrd of
the total f armhmd area allocated to tenants.
The f act that p 1 ot a 11 ocflt ions on l y 1 asted for fi single season .. and the
absence of any guarantee that subsequent tenanci es wi 11 be served on
the s1:1me plot represent, overnll, a type of insecurity of tenure. ln
this way, TRP land policy discournges farmers from making major
investments in project land.
Other shortcomings identified in the nmning of the project include
the inadequate supply of irrigation water to parts of the project site,
and l1:1te phmting, c1:1used by untimely and in1:1dèquate supply of inputs .
. The est1:1blishment of the TRP h1:1s resulted in out-migration of large
numbers of li vestock f rom the area.
ln farmlands adjacent to the TRP, both the number of plots per family
head, and the mean size of plots have reduced since project
establishement. A slight shift from communal to commerci1:1l
transactions in land was observed.
The study points to the need for the involvement of tenant farmers,
particularly 'those displ1:1ced to make way for the project .. in project
land monagement. There also seems to be a need for management to
give much greater thought to integrating livestock rearing in project
acti,,ities.