The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) collaborated with the British American Tobacco (Nigeria) Foundation (BATNF) to provide irrigation equipment to smallholder farmers in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to boost their production for all-year round agricultural activities.
The Director of the Federal Department of Agriculture, Engr. Abdullahi Abubakar, in a keynote address at the handing over of irrigation equipment to smallholder farmers in the Gwagwalada, noted that the partnership was meant to expand farmers’ capacity and also combat the effects of climate change.
Abubakar, who was represented by Deputy Director, Irrigation Agriculture and Crop Development, Federal Department of Agriculture, Sugra Mahmood, called on farmers to make judicious use of the equipment and ensure an improvement in their collective contribution to the national food basket.
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“Irrigation farming remains a viable way to increase food production through year-round farming and leveraging on the abundant water resources around us to cultivate crops, produce food, and earn livelihoods through many endeavors during the production cycle.”
“This is particularly paramount due to the lingering security challenges in the country, which have reduced food production in many areas, especially in the North, thereby affecting the food system in the country.” Abubakar said
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The representative of BATNF, Sadiq Waziri, remarked that the foundation is committed to helping farmers cope with climate change adaptation and that the pump distribution is to support smallholder farmers stabilize production irrespective of rainfall or drought patterns.
He added that BATNF is making a deliberate attempt to create resilience in farmers so they can continue agricultural activities, such as irrigation farming, while assuring farmers in other parts of the country that they would soon receive support from the foundation as it has kicked off the intervention in the FCT.
