The Permanent Secretary, FMAFS, Mr. Temitope Fadeshemi, stated this at the opening ceremony of the training and empowerment of verified and validated beneficiaries of the NPRGS in Damaturu.
Represented by Mallam Usman Garba, Director, Yobe FMAFS’ office, Fadeshemi said the farmers were trained on marketing strategies in crop, fishery and poultry production.
He said 175 of the beneficiaries each were also empowered with 10kg bags of improved varieties of rice or maize seeds, one Knapsack sprayer, one litre of Agric Zyme fertilizer and two litres of herbicides.
The permanent secretary said 28 other farmers received two 25kg bags each of fish feeds, while 40 beneficiaries got 25 day-old chicks and a bag of chicken feed each.
Fadeshemi said the ministry had earlier trained the beneficiaries on marketing strategies in crop, fishery and poultry production.
He said the programme, targeting smallholder farmers, was initiated by the Federal Government as part of efforts towards poverty reduction in the country.
“ The level of poverty in Nigeria is alarming. An estimated population of 88.4 million people in Nigeria is living in extreme poverty.
“ The number of men living on less than 1.90 U.S. dollars a day in the country reached around 44.7 million, while the count was at 43.7 million for women.
“ Overall, 12.9 per cent of the global population in extreme poverty was found in Nigeria as of 2022.
“ This is why the Federal government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning in collaboration with FMAFS is making conscious efforts at reducing the spate of poverty across the country,” the permanent secretary said.
Fadeshemi, therefore, called on the beneficiaries to effectively utilize the inputs to boost their professions and improve their living conditions.
In his remarks, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Ali Mustapha, thanked the Federal Government for the intervention.
He solicited for more of similar interventions to empower more farmers in the state.
Mustapha warned the farmers against selling the inputs, urging them to put them to use to enhance their productivity.
