The federal government has distributed farm inputs to 400 smallholder farmers in Gombe State.

Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture and food security, said this at the inauguration of the inputs distribution exercise in Gombe on Thursday.

He said the inputs would be distributed through commodity associations, cooperative groups and farmers with special needs.

Represented by Kizito Gukas, director, general services in the ministry, Mr Kyari said the gesture was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

According to Mr Kyari, the initiative is aimed at increasing agricultural production and ensuring food security in the country while creating jobs for the youths.

He said Mr Tinubu administration was committed towards developing the agricultural sector to attain the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially zero hunger.

Mr Kyari said the federal government’s intervention was designed to tackle challenges being faced by farmers, make food available, accessible and affordable to Nigerians.

The minister reiterated commitment to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural sector for enhanced food security and poverty eradication in the country.

Some of the beneficiaries lauded Mr Tinubu for his commitment to food security in the country.

Bala Garba, chairman, Gombe chapter of the Wheat Farmers Association, praised the government’s genuine concerns to achieve food security.

Mr Garba said the Tinubu-led administration had been consistent in supporting farmers, as his members had benefitted from similar gesture three months ago.

Lauretta Abdullahi, representing Samunakankan Women Group, said their inclusion in the inputs distribution was a departure from the usual norm when women farmers were side-lined.

“Some years back, we don’t benefit from this kind of gesture but thank God that this administration value the role of women in farming; this is good for agriculture.

“We form the majority of smallholder farmers in the country, and with this inclusion of women, we now see that the Tinubu-led administration is ready to fight hunger and make food available.

“This gesture will address poverty too because the money we would have spent in purchasing these inputs will be used for other things thereby reducing costs of cultivating our farmlands while getting increased profits,” she said.

Yohanna Umar, a representative of the physically challenged farmers, said the inputs would empower them to make more money from agriculture and jettison begging.

Mr Umar said that Mr Tinubu deserved their appreciation for supporting them in a manner that adds dignity to their personality and make them relevant members of the society.

A rice grower, Baba Mohammed, said the gesture would encourage many rice farmers to return to their farms.

He stressed that many farmers had either left farming or reduced their farmland sizes due to the high costs of inputs.

He, however, urged the federal government to support farmers with fertilisers, adding that the high costs of the commodity was making farming less attractive.

“We want government to subsidised fertilisers so that we can buy the commodity at N15,000 per bag,” he said.

The inputs distributed to the 20 cooperatives include herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, dehydrators, gasoline water pumps, sprayers, wheat reapers, brush cutters, among others.

(NAN)