Assessing the Impacts of Irrigation Systems on Food Security in Southwestern Nigeria

Irrigation is considered an essential factor for agriculture and food security and therefore this study focused on the assessment of major systems and challenges of irrigation practices in Ondo and Ogun States, Nigeria. Structured questionnaire were administered to farmers in generating information used. Demography of the farmers showed that majority of them was males (84%) while only (11%) female were from Ogun state. Most respondents (89%) were aged 45 years and above while the least-represented age group was less than 35 years. Educationally, over 63 % had formal education out of which only 5 % of respondents had primary education. The response showed that majority of the respondents in the study area practiced surface irrigation which accounted for 57% of the types of irrigation considered. Sprinkler (26%) and drip (13%) irrigation respectively were practiced by the farmers. However, lack of technical knowhow, inadequate knowledge of crop water requirements and irrigation scheduling strategies were the greatest challenges to sustainable small-scale irrigation in the study areas