Three thousand vulnerable farmers in twelve South-West and South-South states have received training and empowerment from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The PUNCH reported that according to the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the initiative was carrying out the Agriculture for Food and Jobs Creation Program, which is part of the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Scheme.
According to a statement made by a Director in the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Services, Dr. Deola Lordbanjou, the 3,000 farmers were trained and given more power concurrently throughout the country’s 12 South-West and South-South states.
The recipients, selected by the agriculture ministries of the corresponding states and approved by the federal ministry of agriculture, received assistance with farm inputs to assist and improve their farm production and productivity.
Distribution of inputs includes day-old chicks for poultry farmers, feed for fish farmers, organic fertilisers, herbicides, maize, rice, and vegetable seeds for homestead farming.
The ministry stated that the program’s goal is to lift farmers who are at risk of poverty out of it by increasing their output using cutting-edge agricultural technologies.
Twelve experts were selected from the federal institutions’ faculties of agriculture to guide the farmers through proper farming methods that will help them become prosperous commercial farmers.
According to the statement, “Professor Tajudeen Bameke of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, was one of the resource persons and encouraged farmers to add value to their products to make more profit.”
