By Ibrahim Muhammad
The Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Jigawa State, Alhaji Mai Unguwa Jaga, has warned beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Farm Inputs Distribution Programme against selling the fertiliser.
Speaking during the distribution of 20,200 bags of assorted fertiliser to more than 5,000 smallholder farmers in Shuwaron, Kiyawa Local Government Area, Jaga described the intervention as a timely effort to improve agricultural productivity and strengthen food security in the state.
He urged the farmers to use the inputs to boost food production and avoid selling the farming inputs.
“We will take a serious action against anybody found selling the fertiliser, the fertiliser is not meant to be sold but to be use in your farms aimed at improving food production” he warned.
He commended the Federal Government, through the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), and the Jigawa State Government for supporting farmers with free fertiliser, saying the programme would help reduce production costs and increase crop yields.
Jaga advised beneficiaries to make proper use of the four bags of fertiliser allocated to each farmer, stressing that selling the inputs would defeat the purpose of the intervention.
Governor Umar Namadi, represented at the event by his deputy, Engr. Aminu Usman Gumel, reiterated the state government’s commitment to agricultural development, describing farming as the backbone of Jigawa’s economy and a key pillar of his administration’s 12-point agenda.
The governor disclosed that the state had supported more than 250,000 farmers with improved agricultural inputs since 2023, recruited 1,700 extension workers, procured 400 tractors and 70 combine harvesters, and rehabilitated the Dembo and Kuda dams to expand irrigation farming.
He also cautioned beneficiaries against diverting or selling the free fertiliser, warning that extension workers would monitor its use to ensure it is applied on farms.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Muntaka Namadi, said each beneficiary would receive four bags of fertiliser free of charge, while other farmers could purchase subsidised fertiliser through the Jigawa Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO) and Star Agric Services at the approved government price.
