The Kwara State Government has once again supported 2,019 indigent farmers in the state with farm equipment and it is the third phase of the Kwara Fadama CARES intervention.
Items received by farmers at the presentation ceremony included knapsack sprayers with PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), Fish Smoking Kilns, Rain Gun Sprinklers, Water Pumping Machines with accessories for fish farmers, Poultry Feeders and Drinkers, Small Ruminants, Maize shellers and Soya Beans Threshers.
Recall that two phases of disbursement by Kwara Fadama CARES had been held earlier, with Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq presiding over the flag off ceremony of the first phase of disbursement on the 21st of June, 2022, in Oke-Oyi, Ilorin East LG, where a large number of indigent farmers got both crop inputs and equipment.
Flagging off the third disbursement exercise, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq noted that interventions by Kwara Fadama CARES are tailored towards easing hardship in the country, adding that such will go a long way to reduce hunger and poverty.
Dr. Sangodare Ayinla, who is the Communication Officer of Kwara Fadama CARES said the governor, who was represented by the Chairman, State Fadama Technical Committee and Permanent Secretary, Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Ishiaq Olayinka Oloruko-Oba said the items given to the beneficiaries will be monitored to ensure that they are judiciously used.
The Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum also warned the beneficiaries against commercialisation of the items, adding that if they are used effectively, the expected impact will be felt in the state.
Earlier, the State Project Coordinator, Kwara Fadama CARES, Engr. Dr. Busari Toyin Isiaka had disclosed that the Kwara Fadama CARES is built on the objectives of the Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus with the support of Governor AbdulRazaq, adding that the agricultural inputs are distributed for free.
‘With the support of His Excellency, we are giving 2,019 farmers succour today. In the first disbursement in the year 2022, 6, 561 farmers benefited from both input and distribution of equipment while 8, 020 beneficiaries got their own in the second phase’ Busari noted.
Governor AbdulRazaq, he added has supported 16,600 indigent farmers through the Kwara Fadama CARES so far, while assuring farmers in the state of more interventions.
The flag off ceremony featured symbolic presentations of the equipment to the beneficiaries which was done by the representative of the governor after he had been conducted round to see the equipment.
One of the beneficiaries, Comrade Jamiu Ahmed of Ogo Oluwa Farmers’ User Group , Ilorin West LG, thanked the governor for the timely intervention, promising that the farmers would make good use of the opportunity to make the people feel the impact of the initiative.
Also in attendance were Director, Agric Services, Hajia Hafsat Hussein; Director, Fisheries, Alhaji Ganiyu Oba Alao; Director, Livestock Services, Mallam Umar Ahmed Mohammed; MD KWADP, Dr. Khadijat Ahmed Alege.
