Agric intervention in Kano yielding results — Sasakawa Africa

The Country Director, Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), Godwin Atser, has said that interventions in the state by the Kano State Agropastoral Development Project (KSADP) and SAA over the years are yielding results.

Atser said this on Friday in Kano during what he called Media Field Day, adding that farmers were already reaping the benefits of the interventions.

He said that SAA is a Japan government-funded and supported programme that came into the country in 1992.

According to him, the association’s major focus is increasing the productivity of maize, cassava, millet, sorghum, and rice.

“Our role is to see how we can contribute to poverty reduction to increase food crop productivity and create wealth for resource-constrained farmers.

“We work in four key countries: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Mali.

“In Nigeria, we are about 31 years old; we were established here in 1992.

“Since then, we have been working in the agricultural space,” the SAA boss said.

He further said that KSADP presented a platform for Kano State to boost agricultural production.

Atser further said that the project had trained no fewer than 2,000 extension workers and five million smallholder farmers in the state.

“Agriculture is here with us in Kano State, and the government has succeeded in addressing food security through this partnership.

“At SAA, we have been able to respond to the shocks occasioned by climate change, and we see the strong impact of what we are doing in regenerative agriculture by providing improved seeds to farmers,” he said.

Earlier, the Project Coordinator, SAA/KSADP, Mr. Abdulrasheed Kofar-Mata, said that KSADP’s overall objective was to contribute to reducing poverty and strengthening food and nutrition security in the state by developing agropastoral production systems (production, processing, and retailing).

He said that the project is funded by the Islamic Development Bank, the Lives and Livelihood Funds, and the Kano State Government.

Speaking on the impact of the project, Kofar-Mata said that so far in 2023, the project has facilitated over N1.28 billion in revenues for participating farmers in the state.

He said that 100 agro-input stockists were trained on product knowledge, safety rules, and enterprise management and empowered with branded metal kiosks and support packs.

“A seed and inputs fair was conducted in collaboration with ICRISAT, where 2,428 farmers in the 44 LGAs gained access to quality seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, composite flour, and animal feed at affordable prices from genuine sources.

“This is extremely important for a successful farming business,” he said.

Kofar-Mata also said that 200 youths (116 males and 84 females) were trained on agribusiness entrepreneurship in collaboration with ICRISAT.

He said that 440 youths (330 males and 110 females) were trained in private spray service and enterprise management and empowered with sets of sprayers and personal protective equipment.

“Under the regenerative agriculture pillar, we conducted community entry and sensitization programmes as well as pre-season training for cereals and vegetable production and stepped down to 366,000 farmers in 44 LGAs,” he said.