**1. Introduction**

Agriculture is an important sector in the economic development, poverty alleviation and in addressing food insecurity of many countries including Nigeria [1]. The problem of food insecurity represents the biggest crisis of the 21st century worldwide especially with the ongoing challenges posed by the notorious Corona Virus (COVID-19). The main point of concern here is that the impact of food insecurity is spreading from the developing to the developed countries of the world. According to the FAO report of 2018, about 821 million people do not have enough food, 2 billion people suffer from malnutrition and the numbers are rising at a high rate in both Africa and Asia [2]. Nigeria is not exceptional as its population is increasing at an alarming rate and this has glaringly highlighted the need for more food production to meet up and sustain the population demand. For example, the level of food insecurity in the rural areas of Nigeria is reportedly disturbing as it affected about 84% and 56% of the communities in northern and southern parts of the country respectively [3].

Nigeria relies mostly on the importation of agricultural products as about 31 and 23% of the total food demands were imported in 2011 and 2012 respectively [4]. For example, about 8 million metric tons of Rice and 5.6 million tons of Wheat were imported in 2019 to feed its growing population despite its production potential in agriculture [5]. Nigeria imported more than 10 million metric tons of Rice between 2010 and 2014 [6]. It has been suggested that the only way out of food insecurity and poverty is to remarkably attain a sustainable crop production in the country [7]. To improve agricultural productivity in the country, irrigation farming along with the use of improved seeds, fertilizers, mechanized and smart farming as well as other relevant and modern farming technologies is the best alternative option. This will help in reducing the level of hunger, poverty and malnutrition [8]. Therefore, irrigation can be regarded as a powerful factor in increasing crop productivity, more stable incomes and providing employment and increasing prospects for multiple cropping and crop diversification [9]. In the specific context of agriculture, sustainable irrigation strategies need to allow for increased and sustainable crop production to meet the ever-increasing food demands, while preserving natural resources [10, 11]. Moreover, irrigation farming allows farmers to produce all year round thereby resulting in higher agricultural outputs and improved farmer's income. According to [12], the objective of irrigation practice is to achieve the economical use of available water and ensure equity for distribution over time and space. In addition, the success of any irrigation project depends on the proper functionality of water conveyance and distribution systems. Unfortunately, many irrigation schemes in northern Nigeria are performing far below their potentials due to poor management by both relevant governmental agencies and farmers [13].

It was observed that improvement of the performance of the existing irrigation schemes is one of the possible approaches to water conservation, particularly in dryland areas like northern Nigeria [14]. The term sustainability in irrigation is often characterized through indicators that express the performance of an irrigation scheme not only in terms of its ability to deliver the required irrigation water but also on economic viability, social wellbeing, environmental health, institution arrangement and technological advances. Thus, sustainable irrigated agriculture is said to be attained if irrigation practices do not lead to the depletion of either natural or human resources [11]. To meet the Nigerian population demands of food and fiber, there is a need to employ the concept of sustainability to further improve irrigated agriculture, thereby achieving sustainable food production, processing and value addition [15]. This can be achieved

*Sustainability-Based Review of Irrigation Schemes Performance for Sustainable Crop… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.103980*

if all the causes and effects of many problems that have been lingering are diagnosed, propose solutions and the suggested solutions are implemented and put into practice. This review was therefore aimed to disclose the current status of the available irrigation schemes in northern Nigeria for their sustainability and functionality. The study will provide inside into what has been going on with regard to maintenance, utilization and level of crop productions in the irrigation schemes from sustainability point of view.
