About 12,000 farmers across the three senatorial districts of Edo are expected to benefit from the federal government’s free fertiliser distribution programme under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The state commissioner for agriculture and food security, Jerry Uwangue, disclosed this on Wednesday in Benin at the inauguration of the programme.

Mr Uwangue said the fertilisers would be distributed exclusively to farmers whom the state government had profiled.

The fertilisers were received through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

The commissioner said a profiling exercise of farmers across the 18 local government areas had already been carried out on the directive of Governor Monday Okpebholo to ensure that only genuine farmers benefited from the intervention.

“More than 12,000 farmers have already been profiled, and the exercise is still ongoing to capture more eligible beneficiaries,” he said.

He assured that the distribution process would be transparent and the exercise televised to ensure accountability.

The commissioner urged farmers to remain in their respective local government areas, explaining that agricultural desk officers in each council would coordinate the distribution.

He added that the distribution would commence next week, with the fertilisers delivered directly to verified farmers.

Also speaking, Mohammed Ibrahim, the executive secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), said the programme demonstrated the federal government’s commitment to enhancing food security.

Mr Ibrahim, represented by the assistant general manager of NADF, Lecky Dauda, said the initiative would also improve rural livelihoods and promote sustainable agricultural practices across the country.

Earlier, the state coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Patricia Imade, expressed appreciation to the president for the initiative.

She said the initiative would boost farmers’ productivity and increase agricultural yields across the state.

(NAN)