By Maduabuchi Nmeribeh/Kano
The Kano state government has concluded plans to initiate the second phase of agro-pastoral projects, which are designed to spread across the state.
The idea was behind the huge successes recorded by the Kano State Agro-pastoral Development Project (KSADP) in the last five years.
KSADP is a special Kano state Project, collaborating with the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihood Funds (LLF), to resuscitate, particularly, agro-pastoral activities, and other agro businesses that encourage economic emancipation and agricultural development, particularly, in the rural areas.
Ty state Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr. Danjuma Mahmood, said that there is justification for a second phase of the agro-pastoral project of the KSADP.
According to him, “the second phase will likely include certain components of agriculture that were not captured in the first phase of the project, which is jointly financed by the state government, the Islamic Development Bank, and the Lives and Livelihood Funds, LLF.”
Mahmood, who gave this indication while receiving a mission comprising officials from the Abuja regional hub of the Islamic Development Bank and the Federal Ministry of Finance, maintained that the government is inspired by the numerous infrastructural achievements done by the Project and its remarkable strides in improving access to sustainable livelihoods in the state.
“The impact with regards to poverty alleviation is so deep, so huge. For instance, the project gives a woman a few goats and within a year or less, the number of goats triples. This has real impact in rural homes”, the Commissioner said.
Dr. Mahmoud assured that Governor Yusuf, “treats issues related to the KSADP promptly, to ensure that tangible results are delivered to farmers. The government will continue to work with the Islamic Development Bank and the LLF, so that Kano continues to benefit from development initiatives.”
The leader of the mission, Daniyar Abylkhan, said they were in Kano to work with the Management Team of the KSADP, on the utilization of savings of the project, its exit strategy as well as the lingering issue of counterpart funding.
Abylkhan said the mission had visited some project sites in the state and have seen how happy the people are with the KSADP interventions.
He noted that the Kano project has become a model