Institutional Assessment of a River Basin Development Authority for Effective Service Delivery: A Case Study of Sokoto Rima River Basin Development Authority, Sokoto in Nigeria

The low level of performance observed in the service delivery of large-scale irrigation projects in Nigeria has informed the need for an Institutional Assessment (IA) of Sokoto-Rima River Basin Development Authority (SRRBDA). The overall approach for the study was based on a framework that looks at skills, knowledge and experience, attitude and motivation, and enabling environment to identify and depict critical accelerators (key factors that enhance performance) and critical potholes (key constraints) within the SRRBDA. Position profiling and analysis of the Authority’s staff and its project activities were conducted. The approach provided the primary data for the assessment and subsequent development of capacity actions to address the identified capacity gaps in the Authority. The actions which correspond to Skills, Knowledge and Experience, Attitude and Motivation and Enabling Environment were developed together with staff of the SRRBDA for improving service delivery. The results of the assessment showed that issues relating to enabling environment were the highest (50%) and those linked to attitude and motivation were few (29%) while issues to do with skills, knowledge and experience recorded the least (21%). A number of Capacity Development (CD) actions were proposed and transformed into a capacity development plan, in order to address the identify capacity gaps, with clear tasks for implementation by the SRRBDA and stakeholders in the irrigation sub-sector. The CD actions developed and recommendations made are expected to improve service delivery of the SRRBDA, and hence improve performance towards achieving food security in Nigeria, and meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.