By Saka Laaro, Ilorin
The Kwara State Government has supported two thousand and nineteen (2,019) indigent farmers in the State with agricultural asset items in the third phase of the Kwara Fadama CARES intervention.
Items received by farmers at the ceremony included knapsack sprayers with PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), Fish Smoking Kilns, Rain Gun Sprinklers, Water Pumping Machines with accessories for fish farmers, Poultry Feeders and Drinkers, Small Ruminants, Maize shellers and Soya Beans Threshers.
Recall that there have been two phases of disbursement by Kwara Fadama CARES earlier, with the State Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (CON), flagging off the ceremony of the first phase of disbursement on the 21st of June, 2022, in Oke-Oyi, Ilorin East LGA, where a large number of indigent farmers got both crop inputs and assets.
Flagging off the third disbursement exercise, His Excellency, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, stated that interventions by Kwara Fadama CARES are tailored towards easing hardship in the country, noting that such will go a long way to reduce hunger and poverty.
The Governor, who was represented by the Chairman, State Fadama Technical Committee, and Permanent Secretary, Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Ishiaq Olayinka Oloruko-Oba, said the items given will be monitored to ensure that they are judiciously used.
The Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum, also warned the beneficiaries against commercialisation of the asset items, adding that if the items are used effectively, the expected impact will be felt in society.
Earlier, the State Project Coordinator, Kwara Fadama CARES, Engr. Dr. Busari Toyin Isiaka, disclosed that the Kwara Fadama CARES is premised on the objectives of the COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus with the support of Governor AbdulRazaq, adding that the agricultural inputs and assets distributed are free.
Chronicling the statistics of Kwara Fadama CARES interventions so far, Busari observed that, “With the support of His Excellency, we are giving 2,019 farmers succour today. In the first disbursement in the year 2022, 6, 561 farmers benefited from both input and asset distribution, while, as a sequel, 8, 020 beneficiaries emerged in the second phase.”
According to him, Governor AbdulRazaq has supported Sixteenth Thousand and Six Hundred (16,600) indigent farmers through the Kwara Fadama CARES so far, assuring farmers in the State of more interventions.
The flag off event involved symbolic presentations performed by the representative of the Governor after he had been conducted round to confirm the various items to be distributed to the beneficiaries.
One of the beneficiaries, Comrade Jamiu Ahmed of Ogo Oluwa Farmers’ User Group from Ilorin West LGA, thanked the Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for the timely intervention, promising that the farmers would not abuse the opportunity to make the people feel the impact of the initiative.
Also in attendance were Director, Agric Services, Hajia Hafsat Hussein; Director, Fisheries, Alhaji Ganiyu Oba Alao; Director, Livestock Services, Mallam Umar Ahmed Mohammed and MD KWADP, Dr. Khadijat Ahmed Alege.