Kano gets agricultural mechanisation hub

The Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), on Tuesday launched the Kadawa Mechanisation Centre in the Garun Malam Local Government Area of Kano State. The centre, which is one of the three agricultural mechanisation hubs in the state, is aimed at boosting productivity and reducing the drudgery of farming in one of Nigeria’s most important food-producing states.

The intervention, launched under the Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) with funding from the Kano State Government, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF), is setting up hubs in Garun Malam, Danbatta and Gaya local government areas.

Each one is intended to serve clusters of smallholder farmers in each agricultural development zone, with machinery and technical services covering land preparation, planting, harvesting, processing and storage.

Speaking while commissioning the centre, IsDB vice president (operation), Dr. Rami Ahmad, said it would help increase the productivity of the farmers and is expected to touch the lives of three million people in the state.

According to him, the centre is part of a bigger project of the bank. He added: “This is something for all of us to be proud of, and it is for the benefit of Kano and farmers in the surrounding area.

“The Islamic Development Bank is committed to the development of Nigeria in general; and we have a very good relationship with Kano,” Dr. Ahmad stressed.

The project coordinator of the KSADP/SAA, Abdulrasheed Hamisu Kofar Mata, said the hubs were also expected to create employment opportunities, particularly for the youth and women in machine operation, maintenance and agro-processing.

He said the hubs had been equipped with modern farm equipment, including tractors, power tillers, planters, harvesters and threshers, supported by trained operators and technicians.

Kofar Mata also said that “this sustainable service provider model is designed not only to improve efficiency but also to cut production costs and reduce post-harvest losses, which remain among the biggest constraints facing Nigerian agriculture.

“This intervention is part of a recently approved six-month extension to the five-year project, which began in 2021 and is now scheduled to conclude by December 31, 2025,” the project coordinator added.

The state’s Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Danjuma Mahmood, said the positive impact of the project would be felt in a few years to come. “I am sure that from the crop production angle, irrigation segment, value addition processing, livestock productivity enhancement and crop resilience initiative will all crystalliae in the years to come. Now, we have seen part of it, but I am sure that down the line, we are going to see a lot of changes and impactful development as it were,” he said.

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COURTESY: vavalue