The Federal Government has distributed free agricultural inputs to 49 cooperative groups in Sokoto State as part of its ongoing efforts to enhance food production and strengthen national food security.
The distribution, carried out through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, featured motorised and solar-powered water pumps, power tillers, multipurpose threshers, dehydrators, motorised weeders, sprayers, pesticides, and fungicides, among other essential tools.
Speaking at the ceremony on Friday in Sokoto, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, said the initiative was launched to boost agricultural output across the country, with a focus on supporting smallholder farmers.
Kyari, represented by a Director in the ministry, Mr Abdulmajid Sule, explained that all items were provided free of charge to registered farmers’ groups nationwide. He stressed that the intervention was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s declaration of food security as a national emergency under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The present administration is implementing economic reforms to stimulate productivity, create employment, and ease the cost of living. Agriculture is at the center of these reforms, and this programme demonstrates our commitment,” Kyari said.
He added that beneficiaries were drawn from commodity groups, women and youth associations, persons with disabilities, cooperatives, and other stakeholders. He also cautioned farmers not to sell the equipment but to put them to proper use for higher yields.
Kyari further explained that the programme was aimed at repositioning the agriculture sector to align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly the objective of ending hunger and improving rural livelihoods.
The Sokoto State Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Hajiya Hadiza Abdullahi, said the cooperatives were selected from all 23 local government areas of the state. She noted that the gesture would not only raise food production but also enhance Sokoto’s contribution to national and regional food supply.
“It is part of a national drive to empower smallholder farmers with critical resources, ensuring they can compete and contribute effectively,” Abdullahi added.
Also speaking, the Programme Manager of the Sokoto Agricultural Development Project (SADP), Alhaji Abubakar Danmaliki, said the state government had expanded irrigation schemes and procured 250 tractors to support local farmers. He added that more extension workers had been deployed to strengthen technical support across farming communities.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, Alhaji Aliyu Maitasamu, Chairman of the Onion Producers Association, and Kabiru Dange, Chairman of the Cotton Farmers Union, commended the Federal Government for the intervention. They pledged that the cooperatives would make good use of the inputs to improve productivity and livelihoods.
A resource person at the event, Mr Thierry Gouignon, emphasised that smallholder farmers remain the backbone of Nigeria’s food supply chain and must be continuously supported with modern tools and capacity-building initiatives.
Similarly, other participants described the gesture as timely, adding that the intervention would ease the burden of high input costs while encouraging productivity among rural farmers.