Agriculture with Jimoh

Jos - In order to encourage women farmers, address lack of access to land and boost food security, the Plateau State Ministry of Agriculture has concluded plan to provide farmlands across the three Senatorial zones of the State for small scale rural farmers. This was disclosed by the National President of Small-scale Women Farmers Organization in Nigeria, SWOFON, Mrs. Mary Afan while speaking with journalists in Jos. Afan stated that investment in food security will ensure other forms of security not only in the State but the nation adding that the provision of farm inputs and giving rural women access to land would contribute immensely in addressing poverty in the land. She further called for increase in budgetary allocation and timely release of funds to the agricultural sub-sector by all tiers of government and urged rural women not to see farming as a hobby but a means of investment and livelihood. According to her, “SWOFON works with rural women farmers a...

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)- Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), spent over N96.9 million for construction and rehabilitation of cassava and rice processing facilities in Niger, the programme coordinator, has said. The State Coordinator, Dr Mathew Ahmed, spoke on Saturday at the 5th Supervision Mission of the fund in Wushishi and Bida local government areas of the state. He said: ” IFAD-VCDP has assisted farmer groups in Niger to construct and rehabilitate cassava and rice processing centres in Wushishi and Bida local government areas at the cost of N96, 9 million. “The projects are modern cassava processing centre on matching grant basis for Lokogoma cluster at the cost of N40.3million,” he said. Ahmed said that the project contributed N36.2 million, being 90 per cent of the cost and technical expertise, while the farmers contributed 10 per cent by providing the land and assisting workers at the site. The project coordinator said that the...

The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) says it is seeking collaboration with Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) and other African countries to increase rice production and export within the continent. CARI is to significantly improve the livelihoods of rice farmers in selected countries in the sub-region by increasing the competitiveness of domestic rice supply. CARI is implemented in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania with the aim of reaching 120,000 African rice producers. The direct beneficiaries of this project are male and female smallholder rice farmers with a daily income below 2 US$. Secondary beneficiaries are rural service providers and rice millers improving their sourcing capacity of quality supply. Malam Sadiq Daware, National Treasurer, RIFAN, said in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, that the association had also finalised talk with Ghana, Burkina Faso and Tanzania. RIFAN official s...

The Yobe Pilot Livestock Development Programme said on Tuesday that it has vaccinated over five million livestock in the state to ensure consumption of healthy meat and dairy products. Dr Mustapha Gaidam, the Programme Manager, made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu. He said, “Yobe government through the mass annual vaccination has inoculated over 5.6 million herds of cattle, sheep, goat and dogs against trans boundary diseases in the last seven years. “The animals were vaccinated against Contagious Bovine Pluro Pneumonia (CBPP), Black Quarter (BQ) and Pest Petit Ruminants (PPR) and Anti-Rabies (AR). “This has grossly reduced animal’s transmission of diseases through meat and dairy products to humans. “I can say without fear of contradiction that Yobe is a leading state in production and consumption of safe and healthy meat and dairy products in Nigeria,” he said. The official said that the state government intr...

The Yam Growers Association of Nigeria (YAGAN) has accused the Federal Government of neglecting the country’s yam farmers in its nascent yam export drive. Alhaji Shuaibu Idris, the President of the association, expressed the viewpoint on Tuesday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja. He said that the government had failed to carry the association along in its yam export initiative. He underscored the need to involve YAGAN in all the processes of the yam export programme, saying that its contribution to the success of the initiative should not be underestimated. “We are the growers and the producers, we know where it pinches and what to do to fill the gaps; everything is not about research alone, we should be considered relevant to the project,’’ he said. Idris noted that the Technical Committee on Nigeria Yam Export Programme (TCNYEP), in its assignment, liaised with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the Na...

The All Farmers’ Association of Nigeria (AFAN) on Tuesday warned the Federal Government against importation of maize into the country. Alhaji Nuhu Aminu, the Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of AFAN, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Zaria. He said that maize importation would be inimical to the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government. He noted that farmers across the country had invested heavily in agriculture, with little or no subsidy from government. “President Muhammadu Buhari directed us to go back to the farm; we have actually accepted the directive in good faith. “But to our greatest dismay, the Federal Government is now importing maize from outside; we learnt that a ship, laden with 50,000 tonnes of maize, had recently arrived Nigeria,” he said. Aminu however, appealed to the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to look into the matter, with a view to proffering solutions to the problem. He ...

THIRTY-five years after the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh witnessed the supply of turbines to Okere Gorge Dam in Iseyin, Oke-Ogun, the minister was moved to tears when he saw abandoned dam. He visited the dam as part of his two-day working visit to the state. He said the dam was capable of providing irrigation services to 2.8million hectares of arable lands. According to him, the dam which is the second highest in Nigeria, ranked among the 22 dams that are in Oyo State. As part of the visit, Ogbeh held a town hall meeting with farmers, youths, women and other stakeholders at the House of Chiefs, Parliament Building, Secretariat, Ibadan. Ogbeh said that he served as the Federal Minister of Communication between 1982 and 1983 noting that he was at Ikere Gorge Dam in 1982 when the FG brought turbines to complete the project. He said, "I remembered that we visited the dam in 1982 and brought the required turbines t...