“Our first response to the challenge was to commission the development of a State agricultural policy and medium to long term master plan with the kind assistance of several developmental partners, including the DFID through PERL, Gems 3 and other related programs. This exercise produced a policy document that redirected our focus on crops that we can grow with a distinct competitive advantage and to do so leveraging on clearly identified value chains that will be unbundled for maximum efficiency through simple mechanization” – Gov Badaru, Tuesday, November 27, 2018.
One of the focal points of Governor Muhammad Badaru administration in Jigawa state is to tactically reduce poverty, create wealth and promote the wellbeing and prosperity of the populace. The alarming rate of unemployment and extreme poverty in Jigawa state which has been further worsened by the dwindling economic fortunes of the country where major challenge requiring urgent attention to forestall a collapse of the social and economic order of the State, which could pose serious security challenges for the nation in the near future.
Badaru believes that youth empowerment can be panacea to poverty in Jigawa state and this led to the massive roll out of empowerment programmes targeted at women, the youth and the vulnerable. In achieving this, a strategic approach aimed at job creation in the areas of private sector investment generation, improvement of agriculture practices among the peasant farmers, development of human capital and increment in economic activities in the rural areas is being adopted and pursued vigorously by the government.
The Badaru administration conceived a programme in 2016 known as Goat Breeding Micro Credit Scheme, after huge export opportunity for goat meat. The scheme is specifically targeted at rural women using small ruminants especially goats which are distributed to widows and vulnerable women in sets of 3 with an arrangement to collect the same number for redistribution after 18 months.
Thought, the scheme faced a stiff criticism from opposition who misunderstood the concept, it turned out to be the most successful empowerment initiative undertaken by any government in Jigawa state. For instance, the scheme’s retention rate is about 95% and a repayment rate of 81%.several women have raised up to 17 goats from the original set of 3 given to them, so doubt, if that feats have been achieved even by federal government various empowerment programmes.
To complement the achievements recorded on Goat Breeding Programme for widows, a cluster initiative on rice, wheat, sesame, groundnut, soya beans was introduced. Badaru launched small scale mechanization aimed at improving efficiency and reducing drudgery in the sector. Unemployed youths were trained on the use of small scale mechanized implements to service clusters of farmers across the spectrum of cultivation from land preparation to planting, pest control, harvesting and threshing, transportation and even small scale processing of rice using mini mills, threshers and handheld harvesters which were supplied to them on an empowerment loan basis and they are assigned to clusters to provide these services as and when due. This has improved efficiency in harvesting and reduced post – harvest loss from manual threshing by over 35%. It has also created thousands of jobs along the value chain for youth that are not themselves directly engaged in the cluster farming. A total of 64,184 youth benefited from this scheme. This seed to market value chain optimization has created thousands of self-employed young people that are bringing production efficiency and reducing pre and post-harvest loss for the benefit of the farmers they service.
Mega Empowerment programme recently launched by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbanjo, as part of his one-day working visit to the state is a case on point where 134,600 youths benefited from a range of empowerment programmes, machineries and cash as seed capital.300 rice and wheat threshers of 200kg per hour, 300 mini rice mills of 200kg to 700kg per hour, 100 single row multipurpose planter and 100 double row multipurpose planter were advanced to youths as loan, among others.
Addressing gathering at the launching of Mega Economic Empowerment Initiatives, Governor Badaru emphasised his administration’s stand on the revamping of agriculture to serve as panacea to extreme poverty and unemployment bedeviling the state. He said the sector engaged almost 80% of the populace which was also in tandem to federal government’s ‘back to the farm’ call. To him, intervention in this very important sector is sacrosanct and the positive impact on local economy will generate prosperity as well as improve the socio-economic wellbeing of the people of the state.
However, Osinbajo’s response was heart-warming. He confessed that Jigawa state had taken the lead on empowerment programmes. Perhaps, the uniqueness and versatility of the empowerment schemes informed the vice president to make the assertion. He told the gathering that for a state like Jigawa to come up with these empowerment initiatives that cover the people in the society that needed it most – the widows, traders, the rural women and the youths who needed jobs is already working in line with vision of President Muhammadu Buhari whose entire economic programmes centred on the people at bottom of the ladder.
The vice president explained that the innovation and planning that went into the execution of the various empowerment programmes is what impressed him most and is clear indication that needs of the people are well articulated and considered. He stressed that Governor Badaru is on-track and federal government under President Buhari is very much pleased with the achievements recorded under him. He assured of federal government’s continued support.
No doubt, the approach of the Badaru administration on youth empowerment through agriculture is capable of changing the narrative about the state with severe incidence of poverty and unemployment to a more prosperous and agro-allied based industries. It also brought to the fore that, with political-will and adequate planning, we can confront and surmount any challenge in a systematic and sustainable manner. Jigawa state has done what other states should emulate. Kudos, Badaru, Mai Kalkulata!
Suleiman is an editorial officer, Government House, Dutse.
