Niger Governor Approves N900 Million for World Bank-Funded Agro-Climatic Project

Governor Mohammed Umar Bago from Niger State has instructed the disbursement of N900 million to serve as a counterpart fund for the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, which is supported by the World Bank.

This directive was given during the launch of an event organized by Fadama and ACReSAL in Minna, where agricultural inputs and seedlings were distributed to farmers across all twenty-five local government councils.

Additionally, Governor Bago emphasized the importance of the directive and urged the state Ministry of Finance to ensure the prompt implementation of this instruction.

Achieving food self-sufficiency  

Nairametrics learnt that the 25 local government councils in Niger State would cultivate 25,000 hectares of land next year to combat hunger and achieve food self-sufficiency.  

Under this new strategy, each local government council will cultivate 10,000 hectares of land. Relevant ministries were tasked with collaborating to identify suitable land and crops for each council. 

The governor also urged the youths in the state to embrace farming instead of remaining idle on the streets, emphasizing the importance of productivity in Niger State. 

The distributed items to beneficiaries included two 50-kilogram bags of NPK fertilizer, one 50-kilogram bag of urea, two litres of herbicide, one litre of pesticide, 10 kilograms of rice and maize, and five kilograms of improved sorghum seeds. 

This gesture aims to support farmers and ensure the implementation of the directive to achieve food self-sufficiency.