The Agriculture Empowerment Programme launched by Governor Mai Mala Buni’s administration in Yobe State has been praised as a model other states should emulate.
Alhaji Ali Goniri, Yobe Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, made the remark in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu on Monday.
Goniri highlighted the ministry’s achievements from 2023 to 2025, noting that the program spent over N17 billion in 2024 alone to support farmers.
The initiative empowered 5,340 farmers across 178 electoral wards in the state.
Under the scheme, farm inputs distributed included 100 Zoom Lion tractors, 300 ox-drawn ploughs, 590 hand-push tillers, 4,202 solar-powered irrigation pumps, and 72,000 bags of fertilizer.
Goniri said more than 2,000 hectares of land were acquired by the state for Lava Irrigation Scheme to cultivate wheat, rice and vegetables in Bursari Local Government Area.
The commissioner said the state was rehabilitating Agriculture Development Programmes’s (ADP) headquarters in Damaturu and five Zonal offices in Buni Yadi, Geidam, Nguru, Potiskum and Gashua.
He said 10 IMC double cabin four wheel drive vehicles were purchased for supervisors, and 200 motorcycles for extension workers across the state.
Goniri said the state government deliberately constructed the Muhammadu Buhari Cargo Airport to aid transportation of diary products and farm produce, including gum Arabic, sesame, cowpea and groundnut.
The commissioner, therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to support Yobe in irrigation, pledging the state’s readiness to collaborate with individuals and groups to enhance agriculture.
