The Federal Capital Territory has distributed agricultural inputs as grants to 9,170 beneficiaries under the FCT Fadama CARES programme within one year of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The FCT Minister of State, Mariya Mahmoud, disclosed this on Thursday while inaugurating the distribution of the grant to the fourth batch of 6,020 beneficiaries in Gwagwalada.

Some of the inputs distributed included fertilisers, seeds, agrochemicals, sprayers and personal protective equipment for crop farmers. Also distributed were day-old chicks and feeds to poultry farmers, fish and feeds for fish farmers, goats for livestock farmers and grinding machines for women agriculture products processors.

Ms Mahmoud explained that 3,150 farmers had benefited in the third phase in December 2023 to support dry season farming, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to 9,170 in one year.

This, according to her, represents a 216 per cent achievement when compared with the disbursement of the grant to 4,233 beneficiaries in about two years before Mr Tinubu’s administration.

She said the FCT Fadama CARES programme, under the Work Bank-supported Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES), was designed to increase food security and safe functioning of the food supply chain in the FCT.

“The programme is deliberately designed to support the recovery of livelihood activities of poor and vulnerable persons engaged in agricultural value chains, with special consideration to women and unemployed youths.

“Its implementation will be anchored on the World Bank community-driven development approach for deployment of programme investments at the community level,” she said.

Ms Mahmoud also disclosed that the FCTA Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat was leveraging the Fadama CARES programme to provide starter packs to 94 trainees of FCT – Leventis Foundation School of Agriculture, Yaba, for years 2022 and 2023.

“This is part of the youth empowerment component of the Fadama CARES programme, to enable the trainees to put into practice what they studied in school,” she explained.

(NAN)