The Sokoto State Governor in North West Nigeria, Mr. Ahmad Aliyu emphasised the need to identify real farmers for proper planning and interventions in order to boost Nigeria’s chances at attaining food security has been emphasised.
He made the emphasis when he visited the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security in Abuja Nigeria’s Capital.
The governor disclosed that his administration was able to identify genuine farmers through collaborations with traditional rulers and Farmer’s associations.
Mr. Aliyu stated that the state was working on establishing a committee that would work with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy to develop a comprehensive data of real farmers in his state.
Real Farmers
According to him, without identifying the real farmers all intervention efforts being channeled to boost food production in the country wouldn’t yield fruit as they would be diverted by unscrupulous elements as recently seen with the diversion of 15 trucks of fertilisers meant for farmers to Niger Republic.
“I want to share with you that the Sokoto State establishing a committee under the Ministry of Agriculture to collaborate with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy so that we can put a mechanism to identify the genuine farmers in Sokoto State”
“Without this data, all your support will not go directly to the main farmers, let me share with you, the last 2 months before the distribution of fertilisers, I appointed a committee to go round the 13 LGA to collect data, believe me before the distribution the committee caught more than 15 trucks diverted to Niger Republic, so identification of genuine farmers is very important”
He said the identification of real farmers was necessary to prevent situations whereby billions are spent on agricultural interventions but get diverted by some persons.
On the issues of security of farmers, Governor Aliyu said one of the greatest concerns was Banditry, which was affecting farmers and food production in the state as farmers can not go to the farm without mobilising security escort
“There is no way the farmers can go to the farm without security, before the farmers go to the farm now they have form a committee to liase with security to escort them to the farm, its unbecoming and it’s affecting all the northern states”
He added that the state has taken measures to checkmate the activities of bandits through collaborations with security agencies.
On his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Senator Abubakar Kyari, The Ministry was committed to implementing stringent measures in the forthcoming Dry/Wet Season Farming for Rice, Maize, and Cassava, to ensure transparent distribution of agro-inputs and targeting genuine farmers.
He noted that this would be done in collaboration with states, local governments, traditional rulers, NGOs, and relevant ministries and agencies to achieve the desired goal.
According to the Minister, farmers in the country should expect more interventions from the Nigerian President.
The visit by the Sokoto State Governor is the 5th in the series of meetings with the state government to enhance Synergy in the efforts towards achieving food security in the country.
Shakirat Sadiq
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