The Federal Government, under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Program- Phase one (ATASP-1), has flagged-off the distribution of subsidized farm inputs to over 60, 000 farmers in five Northern states of the country.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Earnest Afolabi Umakhihe disclosed this while commissioning the inputs distribution in Bunkure local government area of Kano state.
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He said the ATASP-1 is an effort of the federal government towards attaining food security and supporting smallholder farmers to depend on themselves.
According to him, the five participating states of the program include Kano, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Niger states, adding that the inputs include fertilizer, seeds and pesticides.
“The event is very important for us as a Ministry because we recognize that the drive for increased agricultural production cannot be attained without a guaranteed access to quality agricultural Inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, whose distribution in the ATASP-1 Project is being launched today.
He said the ATASP-1 is a program of the Federal Government that is funded by the African Development Bank (AIDB), and that the program was launched In March 2015 with the objective of improving food and nutrition security, attracting private-sector investment in agriculture, reducing post-harvest losses, adding value to local agricultural produce and enhancing access by farmers and other value chain actors to financial services, among others.
“In order to increase the level of transparency, accountability and efficiency in the input delivery process, the government this year approved the introduction and use of ICT platform for delivery of the Inputs to farmers, making this year’s program a very notable one.”
On his part, the Coordinator of the program, Ibrahim Mohammed Arabi said the project is aimed to contribute to employment generation and wealth creation of the targeted beneficiaries along rice, sorghum and cassava value chains on a sustainable basis.
AgroClimateNews reports that the State Governor Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf applauded the Federal Government for the initiatives, adding that they are creating avenues for farmers to access loans from reliable creditors.
Represented by his Deputy during the Program, Aminu Abdussalam, assured that Farmers from Kano benefited heavily from the Federal Government ATASP Farming program.
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