Niger State Acting Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba has flagged-off the 2024 agricultural inputs and assets distribution to farmers across the 25 LGAs of the State under the N-CARES, result area 2 scheme.
The event which was held at the Niger State Mechanisation and Development Authority NAMDA, Minna, was under the auspices of the State Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with FADAMA N-CARES and Bago CARES.
He said the initiative is to enhance the Government’s capacity to support vulnerable families and facilitate the recovery of local economic activities.
The Acting Governor disclosed that the intervention will have 94,500 beneficiaries who will be supported with agricultural inputs, assets, and small primary processing equipment while additional 37,500 farmers will have access to improved agricultural infrastructure with 30 markets to be rehabilitated.
Comrade Garba reaffirmed the State Government’s determination to continue to invest heavily in agricultural development to increase food production, stimulate agro-industrialisation, and provide employment opportunities in line with the New Niger agenda of the present administration in the State.
He also assured that the State government is committed to attracting investments and supporting the interventions of development partners in various aspects of the agricultural value chain.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Alh Musa Bawa Bosso explained that the distribution of inputs and assets to farmers was apt as the rains have just resumed after a long break, called on farmers to make good use of the Agro inputs to regain the losses made during the initial distributions.
He also disclosed that 13,600 out of the 94,500 beneficiaries will be provided with crops, aquaculture and poultry, while 30,000 individuals from Internally Displaced Camps and flood victims will benefit from food assistance under Agric inputs.
The Commissioner also revealed that 37,500 farmers will have access to 173 Agricultural infrastructure which include roads, culverts, mini bridges, solar boreholes among others spread across the 25 local government areas of the State while 13,400 farmers and processors will benefit from production and processing assets.
The Managing Director, of NAMDA, Alh. Mohammed Aliyu Baba emphasized the need to focus on irrigation infrastructure, explaining that visibility studies have been done, and 17 irrigation projects have already been highlighted for use by farmers.
In his remarks, the Vice Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Niger State Chapter, Eng. Abdulrahman Yakubu while commending the tireless efforts of the Bago-led administration in reviving agriculture in the State, acknowledged that the availability of tractors and other implements will no doubt enhance agricultural production.
He also advocated enlightenment campaign to be carried out by the Ministry of Agriculture to inform and educate farmers better on the crops to produce.
The climax of the event was the symbolic presentation of fertilisers, chemicals, seedlings, and grinding machines among other farm inputs to beneficiaries by the acting Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba.
