Jigawa State Governor Alhaji Muhammad Badaru Abubakar has expressed satisfaction with the agricultural reforms introduced by his administration since he assumed office in 2015,
The Governor made this known in a speech he delivered during the 2022 budget presentation to the State House of Assembly in Dutse.
He said since assuming the mantle of leadership, the Government has consistently pursued an agricultural transformation agenda not only aimed at achieving government’s objective of economic diversification but most importantly meant to contribute to the Federal Government’s agenda of achieving food security for the nation. This is in addition to adopting the agricultural transformation agenda as major strategy for job creation and poverty reduction through the development of the entire agricultural value chain.
A Statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity,Habibu Nuhu Kila said Governor Badaru is satisfied that all interventions in the Agricultural Sector have yielded dividends beyond expectations. He pointed out that Jigawa State is a major producer of rice meeting the needs of five fully functional integrated rice mills, four 25-tons and twelve 10-tons capacity rice mills and almost two thousand small rice milling machines. This much has been achieved due to the continued support provided by the State Government through targeted extension services, inputs supplies, research and development and the facilitatory role in connecting farmers to various agricultural financing facilities.
Governor Badaru said while striving to continuously bring more land under cultivation, Government has also been able to mobilize more people, especially the youths, into the farming business and other aspects of the value chain as a result of which a lot of success has been achieved for other major crops including sesame, hibiscus and groundnut.
He told the lawmakers of more achievements in the Agric Sector which includes the goat breeding program for women. “As of today, 20,167 women have benefitted from the program with 60,381 goats distributed. “
According to the Governor,the program has greatly helped empower women and improve their social and economic wellbeing. He added that the state’s cluster-farming initiative has also been expanded with over 3,750 clusters covering about 62,000 hectares with over 71,100 farmers engaged and fully supported by the State Government.
