Combating food insecurity in Kaduna

Ten thousand women, youths as well as existing farmers, are successful beneficiaries of the World Bank and Federal Government-sponsored agricultural revolution project in select states of Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Lagos, Enugu and Cross River.

The $200 million Agro-processing, Productivity, Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project was designed to empower 300,000 youths, women, farmers and people living with disabilities, meet Nigeria’s quest for food security, boost agricultural exports and improve livelihood of Nigerians.

APPEALS, a four-year project, has, however, selected 10,000 direct beneficiaries in Kaduna State, many of whom have been trained alongside their counterparts from Kogi and Kano states.

The project in Kaduna State targets three Priority Value Chains (PVCs) of Dairy, Ginger and Maize production, considering the state’s advantages in those value chains. Some of the beneficiaries will go into other value chains such as poultry, rice, tomato production and fish farming.

Kaduna is said to have over two million cattle and about 800,000 milking cows as well as being one of the largest producers of maize and ginger in the world.

With a land area of 4.5 million hectares, out of which two million is arable land, Kaduna is an agrarian state with over 70 per cent of the population engaged in crop and livestock production.

Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr. Abdulkadir Kasim who recently expressed Kaduna State government’s commitment to the APPEALS project said: “Nigeria is the 10th producer of maize in the world, while Kaduna is leading the pack in national maize production, adding that every part of the crop can be used as food, feed and fuel.