An NGO, Pyxera Global, has trained 8,000 smallholder farmers on mechanized agricultural practices and agri-business techniques in Kafur local government area of Katsina State.
The intervention which was carried out under the Rayuwa Project, also established 450 farmers cooperatives across four wards of the local government area which are Kafur, Masari, Mahuta and Dutsen Kura.
The Project Director Mr. Victor Unama disclosed this at a forum with different stakeholders’ of the project held in Kafur.
He explained that the project has also trained youths in each village across the project area to provide extension services to farmers on modern farming techniques and agri-business models as well as accurate record-keeping for the purpose of commercial agriculture.
“We train the farmers by organizing workshops, fields facilitations, formation of cooperative associations, exposing to business and financial literacy skills, extension services, provision of motorized solar boreholes as well as farming inputs that include qualitative seeds, fertilizer, insecticides, pesticides, and irrigation equipment”.
Mr. Unama also explained that the project entails women empowerment through the Village Savings and Loans Associations, VSLAs.
He noted that hundreds of women from the benefitting communities have been mobilized to form village savings and loans associations through which the women are trained in petty businesses using their savings as capital.
Also speaking at the meeting, the Community Mobilisation and Outreach Manager Malam Auwal Salisu said under the climate change aspect of the project, thousands of mango and orange trees were planted in schools in the benefitting communities.
He said aside interventions in agriculture, desertification control and food security, the Rayuwa Project also intervenes in the education sector particularly through the employment of ad-hoc teachers and provision of teaching and learning equipment in schools and logistics support to students.
“In this vein, the project has employed hundreds of teachers in the selected communities, to bridge the gap occasioned by the inadequate number of teachers in public schools in the project area.
“The teachers that were trained under the project are mathematics and English teachers, this is in order to assist bridge the inadequacies of pupils in these core subjects in order to improve their lioteracy and numeracy skills.
“We also provide the schools with teachings aids in order to enhance teaching and learning, provision of teaching aids to various primary schools also initiative for village advancement program housed within enterprise and community development”.
In their various contributions, the Agric Specialist of the project, Mr. Nathaniel Otene, and the Project Agric Officers Malam Nazifi Muhammad Ahmad, Mr. Rabo Babangida, and Mr. Emmanuel Sunday, urged the farmers to always consult the extension offices deployed by the project, particularly in adopting new innovations, using crop varieties, or applying fertilizers and other farming inputs.
In his vote of thanks the Dangaladiman Katsina, District Head of Kafur, Alhaji Abdukrahaman Rabe Abdullahi expressed satisfaction with the mode of implementation of the Rayuwa Project.
He thanked the project team for always being on ground to guide the farmers and provide various forms of intervention in the agricultural and education sectors while urging the monitoring committees to ensure that the interventions under the project are maintained for the benefit of the communities.
Isma’il Adamu
