Federal Government, on Friday, begins the distribution of agricultural inputs to farmers in Abia, Kebbi and Yobe states for the cultivation of crops on over hectares of 340 farmlands in the three states.
Amid dwindling global agricultural resources and food shortages, It said the move was part of efforts to ensure the availability of staple food for citizens across the country.
In July 2023, President Bola Tinubu, declared a state of emergency on food.
Each accredited beneficiary of the empowerment program received bags containing premium fertilizers, herbicides, and enhanced maize seeds for the states of Abia and Yobe, while Kebbi farmers received improved rice seeds, according to a statement released by NALDA on Friday in Abuja.
It stated that in Abia, beneficiaries from all Local Governments gathered at the NALDA Institute of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship, IsiAla Okpu community in Osisioma Local Government Area to receive the empowerment packages from officials of the agency, led by their Executive Secretary, Paul Ikonne.
Speaking to the farmers in their native tongue, Ikonne emphasized the main points of the empowerment initiative.
He was quoted as saying, “The government is making sure that you can produce what you’ll eat by providing you inputs.
“The essence of what we are doing here today is to ensure Nigerians understand the importance of farming, make sure we produce what we eat and to reduce the price of food in the market. We are expecting nothing less than 340 hectares to be cultivated by these farmers.”
Ikonne assured the farmers that NALDA would regularly continue to support them with agricultural inputs, stating that the contact details of all the beneficiaries had been captured in the agency’s database for follow-up assistance and more farmers would be added to the list from time to time.
The NALDA boss said the empowerment programme is a fulfillment of President Bola Tinubu’s promise to ensure Nigerians get enough food at affordable prices.
The NALDA administrator in Kebbi State, Bashar Bunza, led the team that distributed the inputs to beneficiaries from the benefiting Local Governments.
Following in the distribution exercise, Manir Abubakar, the Chairman of Ngaski Local Government Area, expressed gratitude to NALDA for the thoughtful donation.
Beneficiaries were selected from various six LGs of the state namely Bade, Yusufari, Jakusko, Nguru, Karasuwa, and Machina.
