The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has distributed agricultural inputs to farmers in Nasarawa state, Lagos state with the aim to boost food production.
The exercise also targeted assisting farmers across the country to maximise crop cultivation for improved yields and increased food production.
Beneficiaries of the empowerment programme received NALDA bags of maize seeds for Lagos, bean seeds for Nasarawa, herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and fertilizer. Each pack is expected to yield up to 6 tons of produce for each farmer.
In Lagos state, 500 beneficiaries from Lagos East Senatorial District consisting of Epe, Ibeju/Lekki, Ikorodu, Agbowa, Imota and others got the empowerment package.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer/ Executive Secretary of NALDA Prince Paul Ikonne, represented by the agency’s Information Communications Technology, ICT Director, Mr Chima Onuha said the partnership with Senator Abiru is in accordance with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on agriculture development and food security.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr Owolabi Odulaja, who appreciated NALDA for the gesture, said it would go a long way in tackling poverty.
“This initiative will help the people to tackle poverty. We thank President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, NALDA for this great support during this challenging economic period,” he said.
In Nasarawa State, 500 farmers benefited from the distribution exercise, which took place at the Emir’s Palace in Lafia, the state capital.
Speaking during the distribution exercise, the Emir of Lafia and the chairman of the Nasarawa Council of Chiefs, Justice Sidi Muhammed (Rtd) lauded the federal government for the initiative.
The Royal Father said the gesture would go a long way in boosting the economy of the state while urging the beneficiaries to utilise the opportunity.
“If the federal government is saying that we are giving you this free without you dipping hands in your pockets to do it, then people must take advantage of it” the traditional ruler added.
The Emir, however, assured the Federal Government of the state’s support in its policies.
Recall that President Tinubu had declared a state of emergency on food hence the move by NALDA to complement the President’s food security efforts through an empowerment programme to cushion the effect of the high cost of living.
It is expected that in the next 3 to 4 months, the outputs from this programme will help in the significant drop in the cost of food items in the market.
The empowerment of farmers by NALDA is a continuous exercise to encourage more Nigerians to go into farming to ensure self-sufficiency in food production, thus boosting food security for the teeming population.
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