The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it is ready to give Jigawa Government $60 million to help them grow more wheat in the state.
Dr Martin Fregene, who works for AfDB, said this when he and his team visited Governor Umar Namadi.
He said they were happy with the progress the governor had made, especially in agriculture. He said AfDB would work with Jigawa to make agriculture better in the North-West.
Fregene suggested that Jigawa should plan to grow wheat on 100,000 hectares next dry season and 250,000 hectares the following season. Currently, they only farm on 40,000 hectares.
He said AfDB would help Jigawa with irrigation, which means giving water to the farms, teaching farmers better skills, creating jobs for young people, and making wheat farming more profitable.
Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the President of AfDB, also said they wanted to improve agriculture in Africa.
He said they wanted Africa to grow its own food instead of importing it from other countries. He mentioned a meeting in 2023 where African leaders discussed how to achieve this.
Adesina said Nigeria had a plan called the Nigeria Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compact.
This plan aimed to grow five important foods in Nigeria instead of importing them. These foods are wheat, rice, maize, cassava, and animals for meat.
He praised Jigawa for its progress in agriculture and said they could be an example for other states in Nigeria.
“We will like to use Jigawa as a demonstration to what is possible in Nigeria with purposeful leadership and support from the government to the teeming farmers as clearly seen.
Governor Namadi thanked AfDB for their help in Africa’s development, especially in agriculture.
He praised Adesina for his leadership and said Jigawa would work hard to make the partnership successful.
Namadi said Adesina’s work on rice farming had inspired many development projects in agriculture. He promised that Jigawa would do its best to make agriculture successful in the state.
