* 3 millionaires each in 186 LGAs of 7 states
In an effort to revive the agriculture sector in the seven North West States, the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator (Dr) Barau I. Jibrin, CFR, has announced his plans to raise 558 young farmer millionaires this farming season this year.
Under a program tagged: Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the North West (BIARN), three young farmers will be selected from each of the 186 local government areas of the seven states that comprise the North West geopolitical zone: Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara.
SolaceBase reports that each beneficiary will receive N5 million to invest in farming during this season. The total sum of N2.79 billion will be disbursed to the beneficiaries.
Addressing members of the Senate Press Corps at the National Assembly on Thursday, he said BIARN was established to boost the agricultural sector towards attaining food security in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Speaking through his Special Adviser on Policy and Monitoring, Professor Bashir Muhammad Fagge, he said the initiative is being coordinated by his foundation, the Barau I Jibrin Foundation (BIJF).
Text of a Press Conference by the Deputy President of the Senate/First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament, Senator (Dr) Barau I. Jibrin, CFR, to unveil the Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the North West (BIARN).
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Thursday, February 6, 2025
Ladies and gentlemen of the journalism profession and our partners in progress, good morning and welcome to this press conference organised by my foundation, the Barau I. Jibrin Foundation (BIJF), to inform the public about my initiative to revolutionise the agricultural sector of our country in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
Food security is paramount and at the top of the agenda of progressive nations globally. Without it, you are insecure at the individual, family, local government, state, and country levels.
If you recall, decades ago, the North, especially the North West, was our country’s food basket, producing most of the agricultural products for consumption by the people nationwide and even for export to our neighbouring countries. However, that has become history.
To change the narrative and harness the enormous arable land across the seven North West states, I have developed the initiative of empowering 558 young farmers in the North West geopolitical zone for the first phase of the programme.
The Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the North West (BIARN) programme aims to use the vast arable land in the geopolitical zone to restore its agricultural prominence and achieve food security.
My foundation, the Barau I Jibrin Foundation (BIJF), is partnering with a relevant national financial institution to implement this programme.
It will interest you to know that we have had a series of meetings with the institution’s management. Arrangements for the project’s launch are almost complete.
The initiative’s targeted April this year to launch fully, ahead of this year’s farming season.
Under the BIARN, three young farmers will be selected from each of the 186 local government areas of the seven states that comprise the North West geopolitical zone—Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara.
Each selected beneficiary will receive an interest-free N5 million loan to invest in farming during this year’s cropping season. The sum of N2.79 billion will be disbursed to the beneficiaries.
The breakdown of the beneficiaries per state is as follows: Kaduna 69, Kano 132, Kebbi 63, Katsina 102, Jigawa 81, Sokoto 69 and Zamfara 42.
The beneficiaries of this scheme would be guided in cultivating maize and rice crops. This would essentially boost the desired yield of the two crops, reduce the cost of food items, and enhance food security in the zone and nationwide.
In 2023, Nigeria produced about 8.9 million metric tons of paddy rice, the highest since 2010. However, this quantity is far too low to meet the acute needs of the continuously growing populace. The central concept behind this scheme is to revolutionise agricultural production in northwestern Nigeria by empowering youths with a background in agriculture.
My brainchild, the BIARN, was conceived to boost agricultural production in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
I met with the financial institution and we had fruitful discussions.
As a follow-up to my meeting, the chairman of the Implementation Committee of (BIARN), Professor Bashir Muhammad Fagge, mni who is also my Special Adviser on Policy and Monitoring, together with my Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Alhaji Ismail Mudashir, have also met twice with the top management staff of the financial institution, where the partnership was extensively discussed and arrangements are being finalised.
The two teams will soon sign the MOU for the project’s take-off. This will be done next week, Insha Allah.
To this end, I hereby solicit your support for the success of this project. If we attain food security in our country, more than half of our problems will have been solved.
So, let’s do it together for the benefit of all.
Thank you.
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