By Correspondent in Minna
Niger state government has warned beneficries of the state FADAMA COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) to resist the temptaation of selling agricultural inputs given to them for the sake of buying foodstuff, including ram for the Sallah.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Haliru Jikantoro, gave the warning at the flag-off of the 2021 Agriculture inputs’ distribution to N-CARES beneficiaries at the FADAMA office in Minna, over the weekend.
Jikantoro said it would be a big mistake for them to sell the inputs, adding that they were given to them for the cropping season.
“A bag of rice, sorghum or maize paddy may be able to buy you a ram or rice or whatever you may need for the Sallah, but it will be a mistake for you to sell it.
“This is because Sallah is just one day but if you are able to resist the temptation and go ahead to plant the seeds, using other accompanying inputs, it would benefit you greatly by lifting you and your family from the current level you are into plentiful in the nearest future,”he stressed.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry,Dr. Idris Usman Gbogan, said that the goal of the NCARES programme was to increase food security and safe-functioning of food supply chains.
Halilu Jikantoro said: “The Project development objective was to protect livelihoods and food security of poor and vulnerable families and facilitate recovery of local economic activity in all participating states across Nigeria.
“Agricultural livelihoods and food security support under the N-CARES will include investments and policy measures to mitigate impacts on agricultural livelihoods, enhance their resilience to economic shocks, and facilitate faster recovery to lay the foundations for agriculture value chains to generate more and better jobs”.
Our Correspondent reports that 125 farmers have been selected to benefit from the flag-off event, with five farmers from each of the 25 local governments areas of the state, under N-CARES rice, maize and sorghum value chains.
The State FADAMA N-CARES Coordinator, Dr. Hassan Garba Kontagora, in a remark explained, that each beneficiary would be supported with four 50kg bags of NPK fertilizers, two 50kg bags of urea fertilizer, four litters of herbicide, a liter of pesticide and 25 to 50kg of rice, maize and sorghum seeds, depending on the farmer’s enterprise.
“In short, we are distributing 37.5 metric tonnes of NPK and Urea fertilizers, 3.8 metric tonnes of rice, maize and sorghum seed, and 500 and 125 litters of herbicide and insecticide depending on the product they specialize in,” he added.
The N-CARES project, according to him, is also aimed at protecting livelihoods and food security of poor and vulnerable families and as well,facilitate recovery of local economic activities across Niger state.
Kontangora also said that the Nigeria CARES Result Area two intervention in the state was in four Disbursement Link Indicators (DLIs) which include; provision of agricultural inputs and services, improved agricultural infrastructure, provision of agricultural assets and small primary processing, and wet markets with water and sanitary services.
While appealing to the beneficiaries to effectively utilize the inputs they have been provided with for maximum yield, he further explained that the beneficiaries would be adequately monitored at the community and state levels.
The Report gathered that FADAMA project commenced in Nigeria in 1990 and now in its third phase.
It is a $450 million project being implemented in 36 states and Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. Phase I and Phase II of the project helped to raise the incomes of rural farmers by 63 per cent, while it is in phase III now.
