~BUSINESS
DAILY TRUST Tuesday, June 21,
:
2011
Business Kano beneficiaries want national food security BENEFICIARIES of th~ National Food Security Progr:tmmc (NFSP) In Kano State have called for consolidation of the gains of the progr.l.mme to enhance poverly aUe\'ialiOIl and incr~ food production in the uea. Some of the bcndidariesdescribcd thuchemeas "oneofthe bm~ in terms of empowerment of the people. especially farmers. They spoke to journal -
ists in Dabur.lu and Lanjan villages. One of them . Malam Adamu Daburau of Daburnu village in t'liadohi local Gow:rnment, said Ih~1 Ihe progr.l.mme had transformed his life since he enrolled in it about a dcade ago.
"I was able 10 own oxdrh'cn cul1il'ators thmugh the programme and th is has enabled me to produce
more crops such as maize, groundnuts and beans; my Income has increased, considerably; Daburau said. Another benefldary, Malam Yakubu Yau, also of Daburau Village said that the Kheme had added value to his tire. and suggested that the programme be wSlrcnglhened~. to accommodate more rarmers and other beneficiaries. Also commenting. Malama Kursiyyu or Lan}an Village in Garon I>olalam LocalGo..-ernment, said Ihal the programme has improved the li ves of rural women in the slale smceillception in 2001.
GOVERNOR Ibfllhim DanKWl!!!'1bo ofGombe
SANUSllamidoSllnusl, CBNgo".mor
200bn agric credit scheme °mpoverished me -Farmer A farmer who is stU! strugg.ling 10 draw from the rontfO\-ersiai N200 billion reserved ror Ihe cCommerda! Agricultural Credit Scheme has loki lJaily TfltSl how conditions pul in platt for acct'SSing.ruch funds made hi:n m!lfe imptl\-erished. Mr. Olusola Akanmode is the
~stak~~rJq%l?CRtn
of staff in Ihe Preside-no: He said: -, got inlem;[1.'d In ranning h«a~ of the agricullur.al 1111tiatha Ihal 11'Cl'e undertaken by Ihe ObaWljoadministrntionJ wanled 10 put $Omeof these things into practice.
I e:ncoun~ a lot of difficulties. ~WhOl the CBN ame In with the policy of rmandng large sale com mercia! agriculture, I made a go al it I ended up being more impol'Clished because the conditions \\'Cl'e $0 stIlT and I had spent $0 much money trying to mm thf'conditioru..fl.1;myfarmers havecompWncdof not being able lo accm the N200bil~AetunJCrediI by theCBN in 1009. The Central Bank said it has rdl!aSed N IJJ. II billion out of tile N200 10 f]9 benefICiaries nude up of 11 5 indMdualslprivate promoters and 24 StateGoI'elllmcnls.
Yrn. .
Zamfara reserves 1,600 hectares for irrigation farming l ·HE Zaml"ara GaI.~1 Si)'J tNt It has ruen'rli TTIOfl' than 1.600 hectares for irrigation fanning under the newiy introduced T;uxtl Farmers Irrigation Progr.lI11mc. Go\'. AbduLuiz )"an. who diJcloscd thlson Sunday in BimirHudu lown while inspecting the proposed sile. said the programme would stan tmmediateiyaftl:f the rainy season. ran said that under the progrnmrne. the slate government "'oold allocate fannland 10 some selected fanl.ers and support th~ with medwliscd spten ofirrigation F.uming. He said the state goo.wnment had provided adequate numbo-of \-arietyoflools for that purpose. Some of the equipmenl included Irac1m. sprinklers. ICrtiliscr and manure sprradm. peanut cutters, disa, thrashing machines and planters. among others. ran said the pieces orequipment woukI bcgh'm tothc f.mnen free to cnc:ourage mcdwil$cd farming. He said Ihe projt'ct was expected 10 provide employment to 5.000 }'Oulh5 in lhe slate annually. The go-.-ernor said the prosramme wasaimed at aDeviatingpo'o"fft)' among thecitiunry, as wdl as enhancing agricultural production and guaranttting food security.
Akanmodc said he "''as unable 10 accmlhdWldbecaust: lheconditions ",~stiff. lheywanted$Omebodyor
you virtually na\'e to have your own bulldozer (JI'" of course pay through tnenosc. , was paling the a\"l!rage of NI20,OOJ fora bulldlJ1.er forclcaring. thOl multiply that by an avenge of 3Odays. how manypcoplecanafford that?Thcy~ kilUng fannm.However, a farmer- from Kaduna, 1\ k:lhammed Budah, o.iefF.xecutiv~ ofNf)'}"1 Farm in Kaduna said he go!
organi1.ations that had a minimum of 250 million farm related assets and ii, not easy. wE~ for me in spile of all the ad\'aIllages that I thought I had as a dviI servanl, a pnm3nellt S«Tetary, and a deputy dUd"ofslalr, )-rt 10 ha~ 5fTlaIJ IoanswasdilfJCUll,$Ohowmuch adl~gcs.~~~~'li.____ ~atj,...many om1luofappl\"
He said: -, could nol C'oVj have access to lr.Idor in my staleon leasing basis. So, the crux of lhe matleT iIIlhal foryou to go into largescale farming. )'OU hiJ\T [0 have)'OUr own trnctor,
Hesaid:"Ourcompanywasablelo access it through Union Bank PIc, but II W:U nnt ~ at all. It took aboul one andahalf)wrsoffight, t muslmnlm to)'OU,bttotuSI':$Omeofthcbanksthat
Gombe disburses N 170m for food security
we starll.'d y,ith would not accepl the farm lands as )'OUr In\aunent He said: -Even though we IN! rar away in the bush, we have a go'>'ern· ment certified C of 0; we havc our in\'CWnOlt in our farm of 0'J'r1 NJ billion, and ~I , tile bank would say I would ha\1' to provide I collateral in
'-'.,..
, don't live in Lagos. so why should I pro'oidc collateral in lAgos to access an agric rund whOl aD my ""C3U'=~TI',.--n
.."..-;_.,.
5Omeof~chalIcngcsand I think WI: \\uuld ha\~ 10 looit3t them. lthinkthe
CBN had tocomeduwn hardon some
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OllflO5( no5l:n~"
Emir see ks policy consistency on agric
By Tina A. Hanan, who was in Gombe A traditional
PROGRAMME Manager of tile N3tional Programme (In f-ood Security (NPFS) in Gombe Siale Mrs. Rista Yakubu said the office in the slale has so far disbursed over N 170 million to farmers under the programme. Speaking 10 a group ofjournalists on an Inspection tour of the progress made by the programme in Ihe slate, Mrs. Yakubu Jlid the money was given 10 the farmers in groups and ailihe projecu undertaken were done under the strict supervision orlhe NPFS office_ She said the programme has been widcl)' accepted by farmtrs in the slale and Ihe officlC has been receiving requests byother interested farmers to join the programme and experience the success other fanners hive made so far. "People from many communities are requesting to join Ihe program but we have limited resources so we can only rtgister I few farmers into the programme, train them and guide them o n how 10 adupt new impro ved methods and other efficient wa}'"3 of improving their (arm )'itlds.
ruler in Kardi district headquanCfl ofBimin Kcbbi, Kcbbi State hascallcd on the Federal GQ\~mmmt to ensure the continuityof' the Ni!l.ional l'rngnmme for Food Sec"rily (NPFS). a grassroots agrirulturc initiauYe that has hl.'nefitl.'d hi5comrnunity. A1haji Ahmadu f-odio,Sarkin Kahin Kardi (the Emirof KanJi) who made the call said he wants the programme to hi.' strengthened and spmid aaoss more communities $0 thai agricl.lltun:,,~ 0I1a' again become the mainstay of the nation. He was speaklng at his paIacc in Bimin Kebbi while rKeivingolTlCialsdthe NPFS and staff ofKdJbi Agricultural and Rural De\'eIopmcnt Agency(KARDA) ,,'he paid him a visit while inspecting some agricuItur2I sile in thedistricl Ihls lnltiaU\.-e of the go-."mU1lOlI has been of S'~at benefit 10 our comrnwtily and I'~ wanl II 10 continue. m}' people would obsen.'I: all the basic rcqU!m11ICf1[Und agree· ment ofthe programme loensure itssustmance,"hcassurcd the visitors.