No fewer than 1. 2 million smallholder farmers in rural areas of Kano state are expected to benefit directly from the Islamic Development Bank-supported Kano Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP).
This is contained in a statement by the Project Communication Specialist, Ameen Yassar, and made available to newsmen in Kano on Tuesday.
According to the statement, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje made the assertion in a message to a meeting between officials of Africa Consulting and Trading (ACT) mission and public sector stakeholders of the project in Kano.
“At the moment, the agriculture sector in the state contributes more than 70 per cent of its Gross State Product.
“About 50 per cent of its populace is directly or indirectly engaged in some form of agricultural activity including crops and livestock production,” he stated.
Represented by the deputy governor, Dr Nasiru Gawuna, the governor said, “1. 26 million small and medium scale farmers are our main target for this project;- this is not a small number.
“So we intend to make it a far-reaching project that will foster economic development and social progress,” Ganduje said.
He explained that a total of $95 million would be invested within the next five years adding that “this project is a baby of this administration because of the resources involved and expected number of beneficiaries. I will personally keep myself close to it.”
He noted that the take off of the project was primarily delayed because of a certain issue that needed to be sorted out between the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Islamic Development Bank.
He explained that the grey area had been resolved and the first tranche of the project funds would be made available soon to enable it to commence.
Ganduje announced that his administration had initiated some projects at Dansoshiya forest, through its RUGA Committee, to augment the Kano Agro-Pastoral Development Project’s planned intervention.
He said the intervention was aimed at transforming the forest to a modern grazing reserve.
Earlier, the team leader, Africa Consulting and Trading (ACT) mission, Mr Joseph Lopez, stated that they were mandated by the Islamic Development Bank and its partners to conduct a needs assessment of the KSADP beneficiaries, with a view to providing technical assistance.
He said he was impressed by the enthusiasm of the state government towards the smooth take-off of the project and commended the project executing agency, KNARDA and the Project Management Unit for their determination and teamwork.
On his part, the State Project Coordinator, Kano Agro-Pastoral Development Project, Alhaji Ibrahim Garba, explained that the project would among several things engage in the development of grazing reserves and stock routes demarcation.
Others, he said, include crop productivity, livestock enhancement, provision of rural infrastructure and promotion of small rural enterprises as well as capacity building for farmers.
