The Gambian government has announced its intention to partner with the Kebbi government to adopt the state’s agricultural strategies to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production.

A high-powered delegation of agricultural experts from Gambia was in Birnin Kebbi on Tuesday for a study tour to Nigeria.

The team leader, who is also the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security of The Gambia, Alhagie Nyangado, led other members of the entourage on a courtesy visit to Governor Nasir Idris at Government House, Birnin Kebbi.

Mr Nyangado expressed delight that Nigeria had made African nations proud by taking the lead in securing food sufficiency on the continent.

“Gambia is proud of you as big brothers; in Kebbi, I have seen an irrigation system not seen by me before now.

“Based on professional advice, we are in Kebbi to imbibe the techniques of rice production. The delegation has gone round to see rice fields, and we are amazed by what we’ve seen in the state.

“If The Gambia imbibes what Nigeria is doing, we shall make it; our country will be out of the circle of rice problems,” he said.

Mr Nyangado noted that The Gambia imports 90 per cent of its rice requirements, adding that cereal is the staple food of all Gambians “because every household cooks rice on a daily basis”.

He added, “Gambian agricultural experts are here to learn how to get our country out of food importation, which has become a nightmare.”

Mr Idris described Nigeria and The Gambia as brothers with common interests.

“Like Kebbi, the Gambia is an agrarian land for agricultural production. I visited The Gambia five times when I was the national president of the Nigeria Union of Teachers.

“Kebbi is the largest producer of rice in Nigeria; other states and neighbouring countries have been coming here to understudy rice production.

“From planting to harvesting as well as processing, everything is done here indigenously,” he revealed.

Mr Idris recalled that the past three successive administrations in the state had placed a premium on agriculture, which the incumbent government, under his able leadership, had consolidated.

“Since the assumption of power, I have been providing fertilisers and other agricultural inputs, including water pumping machines, power tillers and improved seeds free of charge to farmers.

“The government has encouraged people using various incentives to go back to farming with resounding success, culminating in bumper harvests.

“Kebbi is ready to partner with The Gambia to attain self-sufficiency in food production devoid of further importation, in the spirit of brotherhood,” he declared. 

(NAN)