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Niger State Governor Mohammed Bago stated that the state has been strategically repositioned to become a key player in agriculture, not only meeting its own food needs but also contributing significantly to feeding the nation. His administration has focused on strengthening the agricultural sector to achieve this goal.
Speaking at the 2024 World Food Day event at the Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna, Governor Bago announced that 3 million hectares of arable land had been dedicated to agriculture. He emphasized this as a major initiative aimed at positioning Niger State as a leading agricultural hub in Nigeria.
He pointed out that the combination of rising living costs, persistent insecurity, and climate change has severely threatened the survival of the country’s most vulnerable communities. Governor Bago called for immediate action to alleviate the struggles faced by those who are most at risk.
According to Bago, “The theme for this year’s celebration which is ‘Safer Foods and Better Health’, is very apt, given the fact that our nation is faced with the critical challenge of the high cost of living resulting from the economic realities, insecurity, climate change which all aggravate food insecurity and threaten the survival of the most vulnerable segment of our population.
“Therefore, our administration, under the New Niger Agenda, has redefined the focus to reposition the state as a foremost agricultural state in Nigeria with the mandate to play a leading role in agricultural produce and contribute to the overall food security of the nation.
“We will explore about 3million hectares of arable land with enormous water bodies and the attributes of 23 grazing reserves and 94 forest reserves to harvest our potential in the green economy and associated gains of productive agricultural production.
“In our steadfast commitment to sustainable agricultural development in the state, we have made significant investments in the sector by procuring machinery and technology for enhanced land cultivation and preparation, such as 1000 John Deere Tractors, 500 Case Tractors, 500 units of Combined harvesters, 10,000 Hand Tillers for smallholder farmers, 10,000 Solar Irrigation Water Pumps, and 1000 Pivot Irrigation Systems,” he explained.
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The governor added, “We have also secured approval for 3000 hectares of land to be used as an Agro-processing Free Zone at the Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Airport, Minna. We have also signed several Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with various International business conglomerates and partners under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) led by the Niger Foods and Logistics Company for enhanced agricultural produce for sustainable food security in the state.
“We are also collaborating with several international-funded partners in the state to improve and modernise Agric-value chain activities to boost the productivity of major crops, including rice, cassava, maize, and sorghum.
“These partnerships that are focused on human capacity building, infrastructural development, and promoting value addition, reassure us of the global support for our local efforts,” said.
In a call to action, Deputy Garba Yakubu, representing Governor Bago, urged investors and partners to leverage the tremendous opportunities in Niger State’s agriculture sector. He articulated the need for investment in all dimensions of agricultural practices and their value chain to support the administration’s transformation efforts, saying, “Your role is crucial as we are poised to eliminate hunger in the state.”
In his welcome remark, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Musa Bosso stressed that the occasion was unique for him and his team in the ministry, being the first time in nearly 20 years that the state has celebrated the World Food Day, noting further, “We feel that as a ministry, this important day should be celebrated if the giant strides achieved by the current administration is anything to go by.”
Bosso who boasted that Niger State has overtaken Benue as the food basket of the nation insisted, “The agricultural development programmes of this administration under the ‘New Niger Agenda’ has set the pace in the area of implementing the sustainable food security agenda of the Federal Government. Already, the state has commenced the implementation of various initiatives and programmes with the vision of leading other states in food production not only to make the state and the entire country food secure but to have surplus for export.”
