Kebbi State Government has shortlisted over 8,000 small-scale farmers drawn from all the 21 local government areas of the state to benefit from the Fadama component of the NG-Cares programme.
The programme is a tripartite scheme financed by the World Bank, the Federal Government and Kebbi State Government to support small-scale farmers and cushion the effect of the covid-19 pandemic on agricultural activities.
Under the arrangement, Kebbi State Government is expected to receive a loan of 20 million dollars, which will be disbursed to qualified beneficiaries as grants, in line with the objectives of the NG-Cares programme.
The Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Abba Sani Kalgo, disclosed this at a news briefing following a meeting with the Commissioner for Local Government and all the 21 local government chairmen. The meeting was chaired by Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu at the Government House in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday.
Kalgo said Kebbi State Government had completed all required processes for the take-off of the programme, noting that the intervention primarily focuses on food security, Fadama cultivation, access roads, livestock production, fisheries and the provision of agricultural inputs to farmers.
He explained that part of the funds would be used to construct five kilometres of access roads in each of the local government areas to ease the movement of farm produce and livestock from rural communities to markets.
According to him, farmers cultivating different crops, as well as those engaged in livestock production and fisheries, are eligible to benefit from the grants under the programme, provided they meet the set requirements.
Kalgo added that Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has directed the ministry and other relevant authorities to develop sustainability strategies that would allow the scheme to continue beyond the initial two-year period designed for the programme.
The Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Alhaji Hassan Muhammad Shalla, led local government chairmen and directors of agriculture from the councils to the meeting with the governor.
Shalla told journalists that the forum discussed agricultural development in all its aspects under the NG-Cares programme.
He said the governor stressed the need to consolidate the gains already recorded by Kebbi State in agricultural revival by increasing the production of food and cash crops, while also strengthening animal husbandry and fish farming across the state wide.
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