Niger State Government, on Thursday in Minna, flagged off the distribution of One million Banana seedlings to 250,000 households in parts of the state.
The deputy governor of the state, Comrade Yakubu Garba, representing Governor Umar Bago as acting governor, flagged off the project in collaboration between the federal government, Niger Foods and One Hectare One Family, at the Niger State Agricultural and Mechanisation Development Authority (NAMDA) in Minna.
Comrade Garba said the distribution will span through a period of four years, highlighting that the project is one of the gains from the Niger State Green Economy Summit.
He observed that the initiative has the potential to economically empower households, improve nutrition, and accelerate agro-industrial development, which were all pivotal to the agricultural development agenda of the state government.
The Acting Governor noted that the global focus was now on food and nutrition security, emphasising that the State has keyed into it to ensure a healthy population.
He said the incumbent Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago-led administration in the state has invested so much in mechanisation and assured that it will continue to prioritise Agricultural development to increase food production, reduce market prices, and attract investors.
The Acting Governor thereby appreciated the project partners for supporting the state to ensure nutrition security for its citizens.
He charged the beneficiaries to make effective use of the seedlings to improve their families’ nutrition and income.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Alhaji Musa Salihu Bawa, said the state government was optimistic that the project would improve food and nutrition indices, reduce poverty and unemployment as well as diversify the economy, thereby increasing the Internally generated Revenue(IGR) of the State.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajiya Titi Auta, applauded the initiative, describing it as timely and calling on women to take advantage of it and grow a home garden.
The Managing Director of NAMDA, Alhaji Mohammed Aliyu Baba, disclosed that Bosso, Chanchaga and Paikoro local government areas were selected as pilot local governments for the distribution and women are the target beneficiaries.
In their separate goodwill messages, the Chairman, One Hectare One Family Project, Mr Oluwafemi Kuko; and representatives of the Ministry for Environment and Climate Change; ACReSAL; and Niger Foods highlighted the nutritional and socio-economic of Banana, commending the initiative and pledged their continued support for its success.
The Acting Governor performed the symbolic presentation of the Banana suckers to some beneficiaries and inspected the Banana nursery at NAMDA.
Recall that IN 2023, the State government and the One Hectare One Family signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the supply of Banana seedlings to be distributed to farming households in the state.
The beneficiaries of the pilot local governments were expected to provide their first fruit to be used to test run a processing plant that would be established by an investor who has already indicated interest.
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