Gombe (Nigeria): The Federal Government has distributed farm inputs to 400 smallholder farmers in Gombe State.
Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, said this at the inauguration of the inputs distribution exercise in Gombe on Thursday.
He said the inputs would be distributed through commodity associations, cooperative groups and farmers with special needs.
Represented by Kizito Gukas, Director, General Services in the ministry, Kyari said the gesture was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to Kyari, the initiative aims to increase agricultural production and ensure food security in the country, while creating jobs for the youth.
He stated that the Tinubu administration is committed to developing the agricultural sector to achieve the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly achieving zero hunger by 2030.
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Kyari stated that the federal government’s intervention was aimed at addressing the challenges faced by farmers, making food available, accessible, and affordable to Nigerians.
The minister reiterated the commitment to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural sector for enhanced food security and poverty eradication in the country.
Some of the beneficiaries lauded Tinubu for his commitment to food security in the country.
Mr Bala Garba, Chairman of the Gombe chapter of the Wheat Farmers Association, praised the government’s genuine concern to achieve food security.
Garba said the Tinubu-led administration had been consistent in supporting farmers, as his members had benefited from a similar gesture three months ago.
Ms Lauretta Abdullahi, representing the Samunakankan Women Group, said their inclusion in the input distribution was a departure from the usual norm, when women farmers were sidelined.
“Some years back, we didn’t benefit from this kind of gesture, but thank God that this administration values the role of women in farming; this is good for agriculture.
“We form the majority of smallholder farmers in the country, and with this inclusion of women, we now see that the Tinubu-led administration is ready to fight hunger and make food available.
“This gesture will address poverty too because the money we would have spent on purchasing these inputs will be used for other things, thereby reducing the costs of cultivating our farmlands while getting increased profits,” she said.
Mr Yohanna Umar, a representative of physically challenged farmers, said the inputs would empower them to earn more money from agriculture and reduce their reliance on begging.
Umar said that Tinubu deserved their appreciation for supporting them in a manner that adds dignity to their personality and makes them relevant members of society.
A rice grower, Baba Mohammed, said the gesture would encourage many rice farmers to return to their farms.
He stressed that many farmers had either left farming or reduced their farmland sizes due to the high costs of inputs.
He, however, urged the federal government to support farmers with fertilisers, adding that the high costs of the commodity were making farming less attractive.
“We want the government to subsidise fertilisers so that we can buy the commodity at N15,000 per bag,” he said.
The inputs distributed to the 20 cooperatives include herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, dehydrators, gasoline, water pumps, sprayers, wheat reapers, and brush cutters, among others.
