Kano State Government has said it will support farmers with $3.23million, through the Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) and Kano Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA).
Of the intervention fund ($3.23 million), Islamic Development Bank will provide $2.23million, while the state government will provide $1million as counterpart contribution to the KNARDA for its value chain interventions, it was learnt.
A statement by the Project Communication Specialist, Ameen Yassar, said the intervention is targeted at 100,000 smallholder legume farmers across the 44 local governments.
The scheme will last for five years, beginning from the 2020/2021 planting season, he said.
Yassar said the aim of the intervention is to equip smallholder farmers, extension agents, agro-processors and post-harvest handling service providers with knowledge and skills on improved production, post-harvest and agro-processing practices and technologies, as well as creating effective input and output market linkages.
He added that the objective is to increase outcomes for beneficiaries.
“This is in line with KSADP’S theory of change, which is to transform the smallholder farming to commercially viable businesses by developing commodity value chains in order to reduce rural poverty, food insecurity and unemployment.
“Through the agreement, KSADP will finance KNARDA annually, upon submission of its annual work-plan and budget, which will be cleared by the Ministry of Agriculture, KSADP and approved by the Islamic Development Bank.”
Yassar said Deputy Governor Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, who is also the chairman of Project Steering Committee, KSADP and the Managing Director of KNARDA, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulaiman Dan’isle, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
Gawuna said: “This MoU, coming a few weeks after we signed a similar one with SASAKAWA, is a major step in our drive to ensure agricultural productivity.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant repercussion on food security, taking into consideration our huge population, this MoU wouldn’t have come at a better time than now.”
The Managing Director of KNARDA, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulaiman Dan’Isle, said the synergy between his agency and KSADP would yield productivity that would help to reduce poverty, ensure food security and minimise natural resources degradation.
