AbdulRazaq flags off farm inputs distribution to 49,337 beneficiaries in Kwara
Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Monday flagged off the distribution of 49,337 agricultural inputs, productive assets and processing equipment to farmers and vulnerable households to strengthen food security and improve livelihoods.
The programme, implemented under FADAMA CARES 2.0, is supported by the World Bank-funded Nigeria Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES). The latest distribution brings the total number of beneficiaries to 235,567, following an earlier intervention that reached 186,230 people.
Speaking at the flag-off ceremony in Ilorin, AbdulRazaq said farmers faced challenges such as rising input costs, unpredictable weather, inadequate equipment and difficulties transporting and processing agricultural produce. “Our duty is to remove these barriers and obstacles so that their labour pays,” the governor said.
The governor explained that the earlier phase provided inputs and services to 54,332 beneficiaries, while 131,898 people received productive and processing assets across 10 agricultural value chains.
He said the latest phase would provide rice, maize and soybean production inputs, as well as equipment such as knapsack sprayers, water pumps, power tillers, rice mills, cassava processing machines, fish-smoking kilns and commercial boats. He urged beneficiaries to treat the support as an investment rather than a handout.
The Commissioner for Livestock, who supervises the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Olohuntoyosi Thomas, said the state had deployed 48 tractors and two D&R Caterpillar bulldozers to expand mechanised farming across the 16 local government areas. She added that 2,016 farmers had received 8,064 bags of NPK fertiliser through the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Farm Input Support Programme.
The Commissioner for Finance and Chairman of the State NG-CARES Steering Committee, Dr Hauwa Nuru, said Kwara was among the leading states in programme delivery and reimbursement. The State Project Coordinator of FADAMA NG-CARES, Dr Busari Toyin Isiaka, said the initiative aimed to improve agricultural production, reduce losses, strengthen food security and increase beneficiaries’ incomes.
For his part, the state chairman of the Federated FADAMA Community Association, Alhaji Isiaka Yakub Falala, commended AbdulRazaq for his administration’s support for farmers and efforts to transform the agricultural sector.
