Zakari Isah - Kaduna
Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project, KSADP, has keyed into the agricultural development agenda of the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, to ensure food, nutrition, and income security in the state.
To this end, the project, funded by the Islamic Development Bank, the Lives and Livelihoods Fund, LLF, and the government of Kano state, is spending billions of Naira to revamp the agricultural sector through the development of crops and legume value chains as well as the livestock
In a statement issued by the Project Communication, KSADP, Ameen K. Yassar noted, “In this regard, we are funding our technical partners, to train farmers on climate-smart agriculture and market-oriented agriculture, to sustainably increase crop production, protect the environment and ensure that farming is embraced as a business enterprise”.
The State Project Coordinator, Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project, Malam Ibrahim Garba Mohammad made this known while receiving a mission from the Abuja regional hub of the Islamic Development Bank.
The Coordinator added that the project is disseminating improved seed varieties in the state in addition to building the capacities of extension agents, local agricultural tools fabricators, and women in agriculture.
He stated that the project has since completed the renovation of the Watari dam and irrigation infrastructure, while the unprecedented expansion of the irrigable land in the area by an additional 1, 000 hectares is progressing smoothly.
“This intervention will not only boost food production in Kano but will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs”, the project boss affirmed.
“In line with the vision of the present administration, we are also constructing Commodity and fodder aggregation centers in parts of the state to minimize pre and post-harvest losses and increase access to markets”, Malam Ibrahim added.
“We are also continuing with the cow and ram fattening as well as the goats reproduction schemes, and this year, we aim to support not less than 6, 000 beneficiaries. This will go a long way in improving their livelihoods”, he assured.
Malam Ibrahim, who mentioned that the project was slowed down by a few challenges, such as inflationary trends, highlighted that one of the key problems, the issue of non-availability of land for Milk collection centers, has been resolved with the gracious intervention of the state Deputy Governor, Comrade Aminu Abdulsalam.
The leader of the mission, Mr. Javed Khan said the Islamic Development Bank and other project donors expect a lot from KSADP in terms of disbursements and results.
Mr. Khan pointed out that another important area of interest is the sustainability of the project after it winds up, emphasizing that its impact has the potential to attract more donor-funded projects to Kano.
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