Niger State Government has flagged-off the distribution of 1 million Banana seedlings to 250,000 households across the State.
The Acting Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba flagged-off the project which is in collaboration between the State government, Niger Foods and One Hectare One Family, at the Niger State Agricultural and Mechanisation Development Authority (NAMDA) in Minna.
Comrade Garba says the distribution will span through the period of four years, pointing out that the project is one of the gains from the Niger State Green Economy Summit.
He observes that the initiative has the potential to economically empower households, improve nutrition, and accelerate agro-industrial development, which are all pivotal to the Agricultural development agenda of the State government.
The Acting Governor says the global focus is now on food and nutrition security, adding that the State has keyed into it to ensure a healthy population.
He says the present administration has invested so much in mechanisation and assured that it will continue to prioritise Agricultural development to increase food production, reduce market prices, and attract investors.
The Acting Governor appreciates the project partners for supporting the State to ensure nutrition security for its citizens.
He urges the beneficiaries, to make effective use of the seedlings to improve their families’ nutrition and income.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Alh. Musa Salihu Bawa says the State government is optimistic that the project would improve food and nutrition indices, reduce poverty and unemployment as well as diversify the economy, thereby increasing the Internally generated Revenue of the State.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Titi Auta applauds the initiative, describing it as timely and called on women to take advantage of it and grow a home garden.
The Managing Director of NAMDA Alh. Mohammed Aliyu Baba disclosed that Bosso, Chanchaga and Paikoro local government areas were selected as pilot local governments for the distribution and women are the target beneficiaries.
In their separate goodwill messages, Chairman, One Hectare One Family Project, Mr. Oluwafemi Kuko and representatives of the Ministry for Environment and Climate Change, ACReSAL, and Niger Foods highlighted the nutritional and socio-economic benefits of Banana commended the initiative and pledged their continued support for its success.
The Acting Governor symbolically presented the Banana suckers to some beneficiaries and inspected the Banana nursery at NAMDA.
Recall that last year, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the State government and the One Hectare One Family for the supply of Banana seedlings to be distributed to farming households in the State.
The beneficiaries of the pilot local governments are expected to provide their first fruit to be used to test run a processing plant that would be established by an investor who has already indicated interest.
