DSP Barau mulls N2.79bn agric loan scheme to 558 young farmers in N/West

…to raise 3 millionaires each in 186 LGAs

By Tunde Opalana

Determined to revive the agriculture sector in the seven states of the North West geopolitical zone, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator (Dr) Barau Jibrin, plan to raise 558 young farmer millionaires in the current 2025 farming season.

Under a program tagged: Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the North West (BIARN), three young farmers will be selected from each of the 186 local government areas of the seven states of the North West, nemely : Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara.

A whooping N2.79 billion has been earmarked for disbursement at N5 million per beneficiary to invest in farming during this season.

This was disclosed to members of the Senate Press Corps at the National Assembly on Thursday.

According to the lawmaker who was represented by his Special Adviser on Policy and Monitoring, Professor Bashir Muhammad Fagge, the initiative, being coordinated by his foundation, the Barau I Jibrin Foundation (BIJF). was established to boost the agricultural sector towards attaining food security in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

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Barau said food security is paramount and at the top of the agenda of progressive nations globally, adding that without it, there will be insecurity at the individual, family, local government, state, and country levels.

“If you recall, decades ago, the North, especially the North West, was our country’s food basket, producing most of the agricultural products for consumption by the people nationwide and even for export to our neighbouring countries. However, that has become history.

“To change the narrative and harness the enormous arable land across the seven North West states, I have developed the initiative of empowering 558 young farmers in the North West geopolitical zone for the first phase of the programme,” he said.

The Foundation, he said, is partnering with a relevant national financial institution to implement this programme.

“It will interest you to know that we have had a series of meetings with the institution’s management. Arrangements for the project’s launch are almost complete.

“The initiative’s targeted April this year to launch fully, ahead of this year’s farming season,” he added.

Giving a breakdown of the beneficiaries per state under the scheme, the Deputy Senate President said “Kaduna 69, Kano 132, Kebbi 63, Katsina 102, Jigawa 81, Sokoto 69 and Zamfara 42.

“The beneficiaries of this scheme would be guided in cultivating maize and rice crops. This would essentially boost the desired yield of the two crops, reduce the cost of food items, and enhance food security in the zone and nationwide.

“In 2023, Nigeria produced about 8.9 million metric tons of paddy rice, the highest since 2010. However, this quantity is far too low to meet the acute needs of the continuously growing populace. The central concept behind this scheme is to revolutionise agricultural production in northwestern Nigeria by empowering youths with a background in agriculture.

“My brainchild, the BIARN, was conceived to boost agricultural production in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“I met with the financial institution and we had fruitful discussions.

“As a follow-up to my meeting, the chairman of the Implementation Committee of (BIARN), Professor Bashir Muhammad Fagge, mni who is also my Special Adviser on Policy and Monitoring, together with my Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Ismail Mudashir, have also met twice with the top management staff of the financial institution, where the partnership was extensively discussed and arrangements are being finalised.

“The two teams will soon sign the MOU for the project’s take-off. This will be done next week, Insha Allah.

“To this end, I hereby solicit your support for the success of this project. If we attain food security in our country, more than half of our problems will have been solved.”