The Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, has restated the commitment of his administration to using the farmers and agriculture agents as tools of promoting food security as well as employment creation.
He made the assurances at the empowerment and inauguration of the Young Farmers Club, bee keepers and agriculture extension agents at the Kano State Government House, Kano on Thursday.
The government has taken steps to get young farmers involved in the future of farming through its inauguration of Young Famers Club in secondary schools in the state and the graduation ceremony for 300 youths who have been trained by the state in the business of Bee Keeping.
The innovation was initiated to create employment and to also develop the agricultural sector in the state, with a honey processing plant being installed to compliment the training.
The Managing Director of the Kano State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (KNARDA), Suleiman Sani, spoke about the state’s achievements in boosting the capacity of farmers. While admitting that the provision of fertilizers is good for farmers, he revealed that the provision of improved seeds, technology, teaching farmers how to use local manure, are other forms of support that the state has identified, and this has helped double the productivity of farmers in the state.
Some principals of the schools gave reports of the progresses they have made. One of the principals, Kabiru Sani, said that the assistance from the Government had made verifiable impacts on the schools, citing his school as having a garden that boasts of about 9 crops.
He charged fellow principals to embrace the young farmers programme, as it is a way to build a new generation of committed farmers. He explained that having started from school, it would be easier for the young ones to continue in agriculture.
The Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, in his speech, highlighted the role of agriculture in the development of Nigeria, noting that agriculture had been Nigeria’s mainstay in the 1960s before oil was discovered.
Therefore his administration was committed to programmes that would develop the agricultural sector in the state, as well as create employment and promote food security, with empowering the youths in the process, as a priority.
He reeled out other initiatives that his administration has embarked on towards the empowerment of youths in the state, which has led to the increase in school attendance in the state from 1.2 million in 2011 to 2.4 million in 2013.
Governor Kwankwaso also noted that his administration has been building laboratories, libraries, computer rooms and other modern facilities to enhance the quality of education in its secondary schools.
He then called on the farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs in the state who have benefited from the state’s loans and subsidies to fulfil their repayment process in order to help the sustenance of the scheme.
He added that it was gratifying to see the calibre of people present at the event to encourage youths towards embracing agriculture as career and business.
Certificates were presented to the trainees in the bee keeping and other agricultural empowerment programmes. The beneficiaries also received tools for their trade, worth a total of 32,600 Naira per person.