KSADP/SAA trains, empowers 45 local fabricators on production of agricultural machines
The SASAKAWA Africa Association, SAA in collaboration with the Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project (KSADP), has trained and empowered 45 local fabricators on the production of agricultural machines in Kano State.
SAA Country Director, Mr Godwin Atseye, said this shortly after inspecting local fabricators’ workshop supported by the project, on Wednesday in Kano.
Atseye said that the KSADP was funded by the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Lives and Livelihoods Funds, and the Kano State Government in collaboration with the Institute of Agricultural Research (AR) of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.
He said the program aims to enhance the skills of local fabricators and welders in order to enable them to produce high-quality agricultural machines that meet the needs of smallholder farmers.
Read Also: Investigation: Contractor denies getting N60m contract Refugee Commission purportedly awarded
He explained that the trainees were selected from 44 local government areas of Kano State, and were supported with working materials after the training.
“We collaborated with some research institutions, like the agricultural engineering department workshop at the Institute of Agriculture Research (IAR), Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, to train these fabricators, and we supported them with working materials so that they could provide us with machines with higher output.”
“The 45 local fabricators have been trained and supported with welding and fabrication kits. The kits include a pair of welding helmets, safety glasses, welding inverter machines, angle grinders, safety booths, and protective gloves.”
He said the initiative of building the capacity of fabricators in the agricultural sector will stop the importation of all agricultural machines from abroad.
Read Also: Army gets first Professor as NDA promotes Lt. Col. Imam
“We all know that post-harvest losses are a big issue in Nigeria and Africa in general. In Nigeria, about 3.5 trillion Naira is actually lost during post-harvest, and that needs to be addressed if we want to solve the problem of food security.
So this initiative of building the capacity of fabricators in the agricultural sector became very important. Yes, on one side we emphasize production, but when you produce what happened, you need to address the value chain, and that is why this initiative of getting the fabricators on board became very important for us, so that we can cut the post-harvest losses associated with food production and also to build the capacity of local content and get people that can produce these machines in Nigeria so that we don’t have to rely on importation again because importation of these machines will not be sustainable.”
“So we use this initiative to build the capacity of fabricators in this country so that they can produce locally and also fabricate the machines and export them to other countries. I’m glad this is already happening; countries like Niger have to start coming to Nigeria and buying this equipment. This is going to be imparted in our foreign exchange.”
Sani Hassan Musa, a beneficiary of the training from Fagge local government area, expressed his gratitude to KSADP/SAA for the kind gesture.
“I’m very happy with the training and the kind of treatment that we have received during the training; they provided us with free accommodation and a stipend. We were trained and empowered with all the equipment for the work.”
“The training really helped me a lot. I initially have a little experience with fabrication, but during the training I learned so many things that I didn’t know before.”
“As I am talking to you now, I fabricated more than 50 machines after the training. Some of the machines that I manufactured are multicrop threshers, groundnut threshers, hammer mills, and the rest. I have about 15 people that are working under me in this workshop.”
The media field visit proceeded to Rimin Gado in order to oversee the activities of rice milling enterprises established by KSADP/SAA, The rice milling enterprises are under the control of women in the community.
The country director and project coordinator, Abdulrasheed Hamisu, expressed satisfaction with their commitments and the success that they have recorded.
During the visit, the leader of the group, Hajiya Abu Rimin Gado, thanked KSADP/SAA for the support, adding that they were able to open shops in the community with the profits they generated.
In the same vein, the media tour proceeded to Gwarzo local government area and interacted with a maize organic demo farmer and others in order to see the impact of the KSADP/SAA intervention in their farming, and all the beneficiaries were happy with the intervention as they recount their gains.
Comments are closed.