The Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP), in partnership with the Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), has inaugurated the distribution of agricultural machinery and equipment to smallholder farmers across the state’s 44 local government areas.

The project is funded by the Kano State government, the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), and the Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF).

Speaking at the ceremony on Friday in Kano, KSADP project coordinator Abdulrasheed Kofar-Mata said the distribution aligns with the organisation’s tradition of using media field days to showcase achievements and interact with farming communities.

He said the Mega Media Field Day, an initiative of SAA, had been expanded under KSADP due to the scale of interventions and the need to document impact across the state.

Mr Kofar-Mata said the project procured 98 tractors with trailers, ploughs, and harrows.

He said that ten of them had earlier been inaugurated at the mechanisation centre, eight were presented during the ceremony, while the remaining 80 would be delivered to other centres and farming communities.

Mr Kofar-Mata said additional equipment being distributed includes 410 mini tractors, 160 multi-crop reapers, 150 maize reapers, and 100 rice reapers, adding that the machines would boost productivity and promote modern farming practices.

The coordinator described the solar-powered irrigation pumps as one of the most impactful interventions of the project.

“So far, we have given out 1,600 solar pumps. Today, we are inaugurating the distribution of an additional 1,900 pumps.

“By the end of the project, about 3,500 solar pumps will have been distributed across Kano,” he said.

Mr Kofar-Mata said the pumps would reduce production costs during dry-season farming and increase farmers’ profitability.

Also speaking, the KSADP state project coordinator, Ibrahim Garba, said the items on display represent only a fraction of the project’s interventions.

He listed other major components of the project, including the construction of 100 milk collection centres valued at more than N6 billion and the development of 20 modern slaughterhouses worth over N2 billion.

They also included the establishment of grazing reserves costing over N3 billion and irrigation development at Watari and Kabo, valued at more than N5 billion.

“Others included a farming support scheme for vulnerable households worth N4 billion; rural road construction valued at N9.9 billion; upgraded cattle markets costing over N500 million; and various capacity-building, scholarship, and pastoralist empowerment programmes.

“A much bigger intervention is coming. His Excellency will launch a mega distribution projected to impact the lives of over 1.5 million people,” he said.

Mr Garba cautioned beneficiaries against selling the equipment, saying a monitoring team would track all items.

Beneficiaries who spoke to journalists expressed appreciation for the gesture.

A farmer from Minjibir Local Government Area, Umar Gora, said the machines would significantly enhance his productivity, describing the intervention as life-changing.

(NAN)