Kaduna has increased budgetary allocations for agricultural interventions, says commissioner

Murtala Dabo, the commissioner of agriculture in Kaduna state, says governor Uba Sani’s administration has increased funding for farmers in the state.

Speaking at the quarterly ministerial press briefing, he said the governor not only increased the budgetary allocation to the sector but gave free fertilisers to farmers and their cooperatives in the last two years.

Dabo pointed out that the amount earmarked for agriculture in the 2025 budget is N74.2 billion which represents 9.36 percent of the total budget.

He noted that that 97.7 percent of the agric sector budget was earmarked for capital projects and only 2.3 percent was allocated to recurrent expenditure. 

The commissioner said that only N1.48 billion was allocated to agriculture by the previous government in 2023, adding that the N74.2 billion allocated for this year is a huge investment in the sector.

“Collectively, the budgetary allocations to agricultural activities in the ministries of  environment, education and human services have pushed the allocation to agriculture to over 12% of the 2025 budget making Kaduna state the only subnational to meet and exceed the 10% Malabo Declaration benchmark,’’ he said.

Dabo added that the governor has distributed over 500 trucks of free fertilizer to verified smallholder farmers under the agricultural input supply support programme.

“Under the Tallafin Noma (A Koma Gona) initiative, 69,000 smallholder farmers were supported with quality maize seeds and agrochemicals during the rain-fed season,’’ he said.

“In addition, the government distributed free agricultural implements and inputs to cooperatives, comprising  a 18 horse-power tiller, an 18 horse power 3 inch solar-powered irrigation pumping machine and a 13 horse-power 2 inch solar-powered water irrigation machine and a gasoline powered water irrigation pumps to each cooperative to boost year-round farming.

“Each cooperative was also given 30 bags of Urea and NPK fertilisers, one motorised knapsack sprayer, one carton of herbicide and another carton of pesticide.

“Under macro-mechanization, we have procured  a fleet of tractors to enhance mechanization.  A new public-private partnership framework has been developed to operationalize these tractors via revived mechanization hubs.”

According to the commissioner, the scheme will be purely private sector-driven, but the tractors  will be hired to farmers at highly subsidised rates so that the model will be sustainable.

Dabo said that revenue acquired from these private operators will be used to acquire more tractors. 

“There will be a penetration of this mechanization to all nooks and cranny of the state over the  years.

“Kaduna state is also developing the Agricultural Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC) with the support of the AfreximBank, which is the first of its kind in Northern Nigeria.”

The commissioner said that the facility will complement the Special Agricultural Processing Zone, adding that it will ensure that agricultural produce meets both domestic and international quality standards.

He added that the AQAC will enhance Kaduna’s competitiveness in the global market, particularly under the AfCFTA framework.

“This means that our farmers and agro-industries will not only produce more but will produce better—meeting the highest standards required for export and premium markets,’’ he added.