FCTA Assures of Sufficient Food in 2023

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By: Wisdom Acka

The Federal Capital Territory Administration has assured that there would be no hunger in the Territory, as residents would have enough food to eat in 2023.

Secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, Abubakar Ibrahim gave the assurance against palpable fears of food scarcity in the country next year.

Ibrahim, who stated this Thursday during the end of year media briefing at the Arts and Culture Expo and Pavilion in Area 10, Garki, Abuja, disclosed that the FCT Administration has put in place necesary measures for dry season farming in the Territory to ensure residents do not go to bed hungry come 2023.

Some of the measures include training of over 2,600 farmers, provision of about 10,000 jobs to farmers, as well as the provision of agro-inputs at fifty percent discount to facilitate production of sufficient food.

According to him, the Secretariat also made available over 2,000 tones of fertilizer and other farm inputs to farmers to boost agricultural practices.

The Secretary stressed that the FCT Fadama CARES programme has disbursed grants to 2,630 beneficiaries from 41 farmers community associations in the six Area Councils, as well as 1,962 bags of NPK, 981 bags of Urea and 2943 liters of agro-chemical.

He added that the Fadama programme also disbursed 6,550 day old checks with 917 bags of poultry feeds, 13,400 juveniles and 268 bags of fish feed, 639 goats, 944 sets of sprayers with personal protective equipment, which 144 units of grinding machines, among others.

The Secretary disclosed that the FCT COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (FCT CARES), with the sole goal to ensure food security and safe food supply chain, targets to support 12,283 farmers and 17 wet markets in the FCT.

He reassured farmers in the FCT that the Administration was putting finishing touches to reintroducing tractor-hiring services, besides the introduction of other equipment that would “reduce labour intensive productive activities” in farming.

Resolution of farmer-herder conflict through community engagement has also made farmers to returned to their farms, which would boost agricultural activities in the nation’s capital.

Borrowing the words of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Secretary said: “Nigerians must begin to eat what they grow and grow what they eat”.