Writing By Isma’il Adamu; Editing By Godwin Duru
The Federal government says it is implementing various economic reforms and emergency response measures to address food crisis in the country in line with the agriculture sector objectives of the Bola Tinubu administration.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, stated this in Katsina while distributing free farming inputs and agricultural implements to over one thousand small-holder farmers selected from across the state.
He explained that in response to the acute food inflation that hit the country in recent years, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a State of Emergency on food security in July 2023, and rolled out short- and long-term measures to address the food crisis.
Kyari noted that part of the measures is the periodic distribution of essential farming inputs and mechanized farming implements free of charge to farmers to reduce their cost of production, thereby bringing down the cost of food items in the market.
The minister who was represented by the Deputy Director, Planning and Policy at the Ministry, Alhaji Umar Salisu, listed the inputs and implements distributed to farmers in Katsina State to include liquid fertilizers, solar-powered water pumps, knapsack sprayers, power tillers, combined harvesters, and seeds of different crop varieties.
“One of the key goals of every nation is to attain food security, this is an international priority reflected in the 2030 Agenda for sustainable devolopment. To address the underlying challenges impacting the attainment of our national food security goals, the present administration is implementing numerous economic reforms to stimulate production, create jobs and reduce the cost of living.
“Emergency responses and targeted humanitarian measures have aso been taken to ameliorate food crisis in the country in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
“Accordingly, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has rolled out many programmes and projects to address some of the challenges, and these include short term plans to make essential farm inputs more affordable and accessible to farmers through a transparent and accountable process”, the minister said.
He pointed out that the items were distributed to the farmers through crop associations and cooperatives as well as farmers with special needs or displaced by conflict.
In a remark on behalf of the beneficiaries, the secretary of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in the state, Alhaji Sani Danjari, expressed gratitude to the federal government and urged the farmers to utilize the inputs and implements to improve their production.
In her remarks, the State Coordinator of Women Small holder Farmers, Hajiya Binta Haruna, explained that hundreds of women farmers in the state will benefit from the gesture which will greatly improve their yields.
Isma’il Adamu
