Kaduna State means business.
Yes, it means agri-business. And considering the food insecurity in Nigeria, it is a good thing that the state is encouraging residents to farm. For years, Kaduna held its high position as an agrarian state. But the state governor, Senator Uba Sani, wants to place Kaduna higher on the nation's agricultural ladder. And he is in a hurry to do it.
A report titled 'Kaduna distributes inputs to 40, 000 farmers' and published in Punch newspaper of Tuesday, May 28, 2024, captures the administration's latest exploits. In the scheme tagged 'A Koma Gona' (Get Back to Farm), 40, 000 smallholder farmers in 23 local government areas would get farm inputs, farm implements and agro-processing equipment as part of activities to celebrate the Governor Uba Sani-led administration's one year in office.
"Agriculture remains the backbone of our economy, providing employment and sustaining livelihoods," said the Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, while flagging off the initiative in Ikara Local Government Area.
"Kaduna State is blessed with huge agricultural potential. Consequently, our administration has come up with programmes and policies to further boost the sector and attract the needed investment for its growth and development. We are taking steps to address key challenges in the sector in order to restore the glory of farming and the joy of rural living. Smallholder farmers and small-scale agro-processors have been facing difficulties due to the current economic challenges in the country. This category of farmers is very critical in our quest to ensure food security.
"The Tallafin Noma programme includes the distribution of inputs for crop and livestock production. For crop production, improved Maize Seed, Agrochemicals, NPK and Urea Fertilisers are distributed. Meanwhile, for livestock production (poultry), 30 day-old chicks (broilers) with four bags of feed and drugs are distributed, while 50 jumbo juveniles (catfish) with two bags of feed and drugs are distributed for fisheries. To boost micro-mechanisation of the agriculture sector in the state, power tillers with all the necessary equipment and accessories are distributed to farmer cooperative groups. This is a crucial step towards increasing production and productivity in our farms."
"For the agro-processors, vegetable grinders are distributed to individuals, while hammer mills, haulers and threshers are distributed to cooperative groups as group assets. These processing machines will add value to our agricultural produce and improve the livelihoods of individuals and groups involved in agro-processing activities."
In Nigeria, with a food inflation rate of 30.07 per cent as at February 2024, we have the north to thank for holding back famine. The region produces the most food and Kaduna has always prided itself for the cultivation of maize, guinea corn, soybean, wheat, barley, millet, tomatoes and ginger.
"Agriculture contributes 36.69 percent to Kaduna State GDP," says an August 2017 Kaduna State Agricultural Survey.
"It holds the major share compared to other sectors of the economy. Agriculture is also the highest employer of labour in the state, the result of the General Household Survey conducted by KDBS in December 2015 indicates that 79.6 percent of households in Kaduna State were involved in agriculture."
According to the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics, the state "produces 22 percent of the total country's maize, and 10 percent of groundnuts."
Corroborating the data on Monday, Governor Sani said that the state is the largest producer of ginger, maize, as well as tomatoes in the country.
Though described as a palliative, the 'A Koma Gona' (Get Back to Farm) initiative is better than the sort of palliative of dry packaged foods some states love to share. While one is immediately consumed, Kaduna's support of farm inputs to smallholder farmers is one that would yield. Bountifully. Also, as the smallholders are being encouraged, it is heartwarming to know that the state involves itself directly in agriculture too. For instance, it owns an estimated 15,000 hectares of farmland in Gaja-gaja village, Kubau LGA.
But big yields also present another concern, post-harvest losses. In agriculture, processing adds extra value, extending not only the life of the product but also its profits. Sadly, post-harvest losses, especially with perishables like tomatoes, have been a bane. Thankfully, the Governor has vowed to address this situation, particularly mentioning plans to restore the now comatose Tomato Processing Plant in Ikara. It should be recalled that Governor Sani-led administration initiated a $50 million soya bean oil refining plant. The plant, owned by Sunagrow International Oil Ltd and located in Kutungare, Igabi Local Government Area, has an expected production capacity of 500,000 litres per day.
Kaduna is also enhancing livestock production. The 30 hectare Ladduga Grazing Reserve, a National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP) pilot ranch, in Kachia LG for instance, aims at modernising livestock production in Nigeria. While it is a federal government project, Kaduna State is supportive. Towards this end, the state's ministry of agriculture produces and bales hay to be used as fodder for the cows. In addition, it is revamping activities of the government-owned abattoirs in Tudun Wada and Kawo in a bid to ensure better cleanliness and more revenue remittance.
It is exciting how Kaduna attracts a gamut of organisations and governments such as the Kaduna State University's College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences (COAES), the Danish government, the German GIZ and others in the areas of food production and sustainability. These collaborations show the seriousness the state attaches to agriculture and also attracts opportunities. An example is the recent intervention of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) where it supported 5,000 Kaduna ginger farmers with various farm inputs. Coming after the huge loss ginger farmers suffered as a result of the Ginger Blight disease, getting the farm inputs must have been soothing. The Executive Secretary of NADF, Mohammed Ibrahim, said the input support is under the Ginger Recovery Advancement and Transformation for Economic Empowerment initiative.
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However, beyond input gifts to farmers, the Kaduna State government is also setting up structures to ease agriculture. Take the Galma Irrigation Scheme in Zaria for instance. With a dependable water source from Galma Dam, farmers can grow wheat all year round. Noteworthy also is the fact that the state maintains its other irrigation schemes such as the Mashigin Kaya irrigation system at Giwa LGA and the Hunkunyi Dam at Kudan LGA.
While the state government's agricultural strides are commendable thus far, it's only human to ask for more. Thankfully, Kaduna has become safer under the Sani-led administration as security is now beefed up, leading to less incidences of banditry and kidnapping. Hence, more farmers can farm in peace.
Overall, Kaduna's seriousness with agriculture is impressive and one which more states should embrace. More than anything else, it is a sure-fire way to achieving food security in our nation.
*Abass, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Kaduna
