Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano state, on Monday, launched agricultural interventions consisting agro processing facilities and farm inputs, for 6, 200 smallholder farmers, through agricultural associations, under the Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project/ Sasakawa Africa Association Crop Value chain intervention.
Funded by the Islamic Development Bank, IsDB, the Lives and Livelihood Funds, LLF, and the government of Kano state, the support, which aims to strengthen agricultural productivity comprises units of Power tillers, Hammer mills, Rice mills Rice hullers, Rice threshers, Maize threshers, Traddle pumps and Multi crop threshers, among other things.
Equally, the governor flagged off the second phase of Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project’s Ram Fattening and Small Ruminants Reproduction schemes, for 2, 357 women and youths.
Small ruminants play a vital role in the food and nutrition security of millions of poor rural dwellers in Kano, Nigeria’s most populous state, serving as sources of meat, milk and skin.
Also launched by the governor during the occasion was the distribution of free Aflasafe, a bioprotectant for use on groundnut farms to reduce aflatoxin contamination, to 1, 200 farmers, under the Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project/ KNARDA Legumes Value chain intervention. Aflatoxins can cause liver cancer and other health challenges in human beings.
Speaking during the well attended ceremony in Kano, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf said the interventions are in tandem with his government’s resolve to improve lives and livelihoods.
“Our target is to achieve food sufficiency and sustained employment generation to our teeming youth through agricultural activities, development of additional cultivable land and increase in livestock production, to make our economy very resilient”, Gov. Abba maintained.
The governor restated his administration’s resolve to revamp agriculture in view of its importance to the economy, the governor expressed appreciation to the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihood Funds for their support towards making life better for citizens of the state.
The Managing Director of KNARDA, Dr. Faruk Kurawa told the governor that target beneficiaries of the interventions are mainly peasants from the 44 local government areas of the state, pointing out the support is a tip of the iceberg, as the state government is committed to improving the well being of the citizenry.
KSADP’s State Project Coordinator, Ibrahim Garba Muhammad stressed that since inception, the Kano Agro – Pastoral Development Project invested heavily in sustainable development of livestock and selected crop value chains, pointing out that the objective is to contribute to poverty alleviation and strengthening of food security of low income earners.
Ameen K. Yassar
Project Communication Specialist,
KSADP
4th September, 2023

Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project, KSADP, is to vaccinate at least One million cattle and 800,000 goats and sheep in this year’s annual livestock vaccination campaign, in Kano state.

Funded by the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihood Funds, the project intends to spend not less than N160 million on the campaign, which aims to enhance livestock health and improve livelihoods of herders and livestock breeders.

The State Project Coordinator, KSADP, Malam Ibrahim Garba Muhammad, disclosed this during the kick-off of community sensitization on the exercise, held that the palace of the district Head of Kura, in Kura local government area of the state.

“The project is determined to upscale the vaccination because livestock health is tied to your livelihoods, and by extension our economy”, the Coordinator stressed.

“The objective of this interaction is to enhance your understanding of the vaccination and to seek cooperation of all stakeholders so that the exercise succeeds”, he added.

Besides the annual vaccination campaign, Malam Ibrahim said the project had embarked upon several projects including the upgrade and equipping of Kadawa Artificial Insemination Center, construction of milk collection centers, upgrade of cattle markets and crop residue utilization program, among others, to improve the livelihood of the herders.

“We shall soon award contract for demarcation of stock routes in Kano, which is major step towards ending conflict between farmers and herders in Kano”, he further revealed.

The District Head of Kura, Dokajin Rano, represented by Alhaji Balarabe Muhammad disclosed that no outbreak of livestock diseases has been reported in the area in the past three years due to consistent vaccination carried out by the KSADP.

He therefore directed village heads and herders’ community leaders in the domain to fully mobilize for the forthcoming vaccination in view of its importance.

In his comments on behalf of herders’ communities in Kura local government, Malam Zubairu Muhammad said they are familiar with livestock vaccination, having benefitted in the past three years, assuring that there will be no resistance to the exercise.

“We have seen the impact of the vaccination conducted in the past, so we appreciate the Islamic Development Bank and the LLF for their untiring support”, he asserted.

Also speaking, the Zonal Veterinary Director for Rano Zone, Dr. Idris Ibrahim, who underscored the importance of the livestock vaccination, suggested that livestock vaccination campaign should include Rabies vaccination, since the herders also possess livestock guardian dogs.

Ameen K. Yassar

Project Communication Specialist,

KSADP

3^rd October, 2023