About 3,000 local youth farmers in Kwara State will benefit from agricultural inputs, free land clearing, and improved seedlings, among other incentives, to facilitate increased agricultural production in the state.
Speaking during the inauguration of an agriculture intervention programme for the farmers in Ilorin on Thursday, powered by the Director General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Abuja, Professor Abubakar Sulaiman, in partnership with a farmers group, Kwara Renaissance Group (KWRG), he said that the programme aimed to address food security and the current high cost of food in the country.
Professor Sulaiman, who said that the intervention aimed to complement the efforts of both the federal and state governments to ensure food sufficiency, added that it would develop the capacity of local farmers in such areas as rice and all food crop cultivation in the state.
“It’s an inspiration borne out of the need to feed ourselves and feed the nation because we’ve been undergoing a lot of crises. Both the federal and state governments have been doing their best possible, but they can’t do everything. We need to complement their efforts.
“We have people that are ready to farm, as well as arable land, but the issue is how to assist them in their areas of need for better yields. Such as farm instruments and tools, farm supplements, fertiliser, farm clearing, improved seedlings, and stipends. These are Herculean tasks for some farmers, and that’s what we’re providing for them.
“As individuals that are resourceful and have the reach and connection, we also need to complement farmers and governments in what they’re doing. What I’m doing today is in line with the capacity building of our institute to build the capacity of Nigerian farmers so that we can grow abundant food to feed the nation.
The DG NILDS, who said that registered beneficiaries were selected after obtaining forms, added that more beneficiaries would be included in the programme in the near future as an ongoing project.
He also said that evaluation and monitoring would be carried out on the people to assess progress on their individual farms, adding that the initiative could go into the data bank of the state government to know the number of farmers in the state, arable land, and how the federal government can come in to assist them.
Professor Sulaiman also called on every person that God has blessed to emulate the initiative, saying that “we need to assist the underprivileged. And the underprivileged start with our farmers. When you have food on your table, you have everything. When you are hungry, you have nothing.
Also speaking, the representative of the KWRG, Ibrahim Toyeeb, said that the Amana Farm2Feed initiative is capable of increasing prosperity among farmers in the state.
Toyeeb, a tomato farmer, who said that it takes about N60,000 to do farm clearing of a hectare of land, added that the initiative is providing land clearing free of charge with other incentives such as seedlings, agricultural education, and enlightenment on more productive ways of farming.
“KWRG also has a team that would do monitoring and evaluation of the beneficiaries to ensure we have good results from selected serious farmers,” he said.
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
