AGRA empowers 114 women and youths in Niger

Justina Asishana, Minna

114 youths and six women groups have been empowered by the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for its rice consortium project in Niger State.

The organisation distributed rice milling machines, sprayers and motorcycles to women groups and youths in 19 local government areas in the state.

The empowered youths are 114 Community Based Facilitators while 19 extension agents were given motorcycles for ease of mobility.

Making the distribution in Minna at the Agricultural and Mechanisation Authority (NAMDA), the Secretary to the Niger State Government, Ahmed Ibrahim Matane, said provisions of equipment are serious energiser for the youth and farmers in the area.

With the ease in mobility, he said the farmers will be able to get adequate advice from the extension agents on how to improve their farm yields.

Matane, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Economic Affairs, Alhaji Baba Wachiko, urged the Ministry of Agriculture to develop a monitoring mechanism that will track the machines and equipment distributed, to prevent it from being sold or misused.

“It is a very serious matter that a lot of government intervention are being abandoned or sold because of lack of adequate monitoring and community ownership. There have been a lot of interventions but most of them are nowhere to be tracked, therefore this one should be adequately monitored.”

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In his address, the Commissioner for Livestock and Fisheries, Honorable Nuhu Dukku, who represented the Commissioner for Agriculture appreciate the intervention by AGRA, especially on addressing the lack of mobility on extension agents, saying it will enable them to carry out their jobs with ease.

Dukku noted that the state government is planning to recruit new extension agents, as the current agents are not enough to cover the state.

The AGRA Associate Programme Officer, Godswill Aguiyi, said the rice consortium project in Niger State is aimed at increasing rice productivity, improved income and food security in Niger State.

He said the organisation is targeting 150,000 farms for improved inputs, good agromical practices and post harvest management in order to improve the productivity and income of farmers in the state.