The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has distributed farm inputs to 243 farmers in Yobe under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS).
Malam Usman Garba, Director, FMAFS office in Yobe, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu on Thursday.
He said 175 of the beneficiaries each received 10kg bags of improved varieties of rice or maize seeds, one Knapsack sprayer, one litre of Agric Zyme fertiliser and two litres of herbicides.
Garba said 28 other farmers received two 25kg bags each of fish feeds, while 40 beneficiaries got 25 day-old-chicks and a bag of chicken feed each.
The director said the ministry had earlier trained the beneficiaries on marketing strategies in crop, fishery and poultry production.
He said the programme, targeting small holder farmers, was initiated by the Federal Government as part of efforts towards poverty reduction in the country.
“The level of poverty in Nigeria is alarming. An estimated population of 88.4 million people in Nigeria is living in extreme poverty.
“The number of men living on less than 1.90 dollars a day in the country reached around 44.7 million, while the count was at 43.7 million for women.
“Overall, 12.9 per cent of the global population in extreme poverty was found in Nigeria as of 2022.
“This is why the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, in collaboration with FMAFS is making conscious efforts at reducing the spate of poverty across the country,” Garba said.
The director, therefore, called on the beneficiaries to effectively utilise the inputs to boost their professions and improve their living conditions. (NAN)
