By Awwal Umar Kontagora The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has emphasized its support for the decision of the Farmer ...
By Awwal Umar Kontagora
The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has emphasized its support for the decision of the Farmer Governor Umar Mohammed Bago's government to strengthen one million farmers in the state in the government’s efforts to provide food in Africa.
The chairman AFAN in Niger state, Alhaji Shehu Yusuf Galadima, stated this at the meeting of leaders of farmers' organizations and stakeholders called by the organization to prepare for this year's opportunities.
The chairman said that, this year the government of Niger State is making efforts to cultivate four million hectares, on which plans are already far ahead, and has vowed to provide abundant seeds, modern fertilizers and all the things a farmer needs.
Shehu Galadima praised the governor for this effort which if successful not only in the production of food, the government will create a new chapter in the food business that will allow foreigners from African countries to visit the state to trade in food.
Explaining to the press, the vice chairman of the state association, and the secretary of the Cotton Farmers Association, and the leader of the wheat farmers as well as the secretary of the Tomato Farmers Association, Peace Ambassador, Amb. Nura Hashim said that this program will take place under the Niger FOOD program which was created by the state government in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and NAMDA.
Amb. Nura continued by saying that the government has chosen 10 types of food that it wants to promote, which is why they have invited the coordinators of twenty-five local governments, stakeholders and other farmers' organizations to praise the state government for this effort and support of the farmers of the state.
Among the food items that the government is determined to focus on include rice, corn, yam, cassava, yam, rice and soya-beans, the rest include cotton and other types of soya-beans.
He went on to say that this process was launched under the Niger FOOD Institute, which oversees the agricultural sector, while the Ministry of Agriculture and NAMDA will train farmers in this new type of modern farming that is expected to grow one million hectares in the state.
Regarding the security problems, the Vice chairman said, Farmer Governor Umar Mohammed Bago has taken the initiative to inform the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the insecurity situation faced by some local government areas, which the federal government has promised all the areas that are facing security problems, that the government will provide effective care in the areas.
What we are trying to educate the farmers on is that they should know that everything that will be given as a loan must be paid, so every local government must go back and cooperate with the traditional rulers of their areas because every person who is not a farmer will not benefit from the program.
An investigation by our correspondent found out that the plan is in two stages, the first stage is for the large scale farmers, all the profits they get will be shared equally with the government, while the second stage is for the small scale farmers, everything they have grown they will pay the debt according to what they received, the only thing left is their profit.
AFAN said that this is a project that the state government has borrowed money to implement, which must be returned after the farm is harvested and sold.
Amb. Nura said that the farmers should not be afraid because no one will claim the ownership of their farms for what they have grown, but it is a way that the government has created to encourage the farmers of the state, to change their thinking from growing food to eat, to farmers who benefit from the farm to business, which we expect that after the completion of this plan of cultivating ten different crops will be expanded to other types of food that the world market needs.
So that other groups that grow other types of food should come into this program, this will strengthen the government's efforts to expand the program in the future.
Malam Garba Ibrahim, the chairman of the Federation of Food Exporters Association, said that if it is successful, Niger State will be the first place where traders will invest in the food industry, where it will be easy to find different types of food to be exported.
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