The presidential candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has promised to transform the agricultural sector of the country to a commercially driven sector that will give chances to small holder farmers to grow and become independent if elected as the president in the coming 2023 elections.
Atiku disclosed this while revealing his plans for the agricultural sector to a group of over 2000 farmers during the First Kano State All Value Chain Conference for Small Holder Farmers which was held at Meena Event Center in the state.
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He also said part of his plan for agriculture is for women to be involved in the sector and improve linkage between small scale farmers and commercial agricultural processors as well as providing access to finance and improved inputs.
The presidential candidate, represented by his Campaign Director on Support Groups, Senator Baraka Sani said the Agricultural sector as one of his development agenda under Economic Prosperity will be given more priority so that it can develop into a modern productive and competitive venture with high job creation and poverty reduction capacity.
“One of our plans is to increase Agricultural output from N41.3 trillion (2022 record) to about N55 trillion by 2030. This implies an increase from 2.1% to 3.7% through the elevation of irrigation policy to a top long term investment priority.
“That is why we gathered farmers from across all value chains and commodities to hear from you and your demands to make it easier for us to develop the sector all together,” he said.
On their part, the farmers expressed dismay over the failure of government and farming stakeholders to provide modern storage facilities for perishables, improved varieties and farming support on time.
Ali Abdu, who is the chairman of Onion farmers, said providing storage facilities will help their sector and prevent losses that threaten them from the business every year.
