Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, has launched a dry season agricultural empowerment program for farmers in the state.
Speaking at the launching of the program in Kaduna on Sunday, Mr Sani said the initiative aims to ensure all-year-round farming in the state.
He disclosed that his administration allocated 10 percent of the 2025 budget to the agricultural sector, aligning with the Malabo benchmark set by African Union heads of state and government in June 2014.
The items distributed included 100,000 bags of fertiliser and 10,000 water pumps.
‘’Today, we are launching the Dry Season Agricultural Empowerment Programme, a game-changing initiative designed to ensure that our farmers can produce food all year round.
‘’Under this program, we are distributing 100,000 bags of fertilisers—both NPK and urea—to enhance soil fertility and boost yields.
“Kaduna State has also procured 500 power tillers to assist smallholder farmers in land preparation, 2,000 knapsack sprayers for effective pest and disease control, and 10,000 water pumps, most of which are solar-powered to support irrigation and ensure uninterrupted farming during the dry season.’’
To improve productivity across the state, Mr Sani said his administration was providing high-quality seeds and agrochemicals to agriculturists.
The governor added that the current administration was also addressing herder-farmer conflicts by investing in water infrastructure, rehabilitating grazing reserves, and promoting community dialogue.
Similarly, the governor disclosed that the state had attracted the Africa Quality Assurance Centre, AQAC, supported by the African Export-Import Bank, Afreximbank, to provide vital testing, certification, and inspection services for agricultural products.
The state partnered with Afreximbank to establish the AQAC to inspect agricultural products for export in June 2024.
However, Mr Uba noted that the project’s construction is now underway, which is expected to bolster Kaduna’s reputation as a key player in West Africa’s agricultural exports and certification services.
He also noted that his government has commenced constructing the Special Agricultural Processing Zone, SAPZ, a partnership between the state government and the African Development Bank, AfDB.
In December 2021, AfDB announced that its board had approved a $210 million loan to co-finance phase one of Nigeria’s SAPZ program, which covers seven states, including Kaduna.
Giving an update on the partnership, Mr Sani said the processing zone will be provided with necessary infrastructure, offering a bigger market for farmers, increasing production, and ensuring greater value addition for agricultural produce.
The governor appreciated President Bola Tinubu for supporting the state’s agricultural sector, saying that his administration could not have achieved such a milestone without the president’s support.
In his remarks, the state commissioner for agriculture, Murtala Dabo, said under the Uba Sani administration, there is an unprecedented increase in budgetary support for agriculture.
‘’In 2023, the sector received just N1.48 billion, a modest 0.4% of the state budget; this rose dramatically in 2024 to N23.40 billion when His Excellency, Sen. Uba Sani, came into office, representing 5.1 percent of the total budget, a 1,473 percent increase.
‘’In 2025, the allocation reached N74.02 billion, bringing agriculture to 9.4 percent of the state budget, marking an astonishing 4,871 percent increase in just two years.
“This level of commitment underscores the governor’s determination to make agriculture a pillar of economic growth, ensuring food security, job creation, and improved livelihoods for our people.
“Agriculture already contributes 43 percent to Kaduna State’s GDP and employs a substantial proportion of our workforce.
“With this level of investment, we are not just supporting farmers—we are building an economy that is self-sustaining, productive, and resilient.”
Also speaking, the minister of state agriculture, Sabi Abdullahi, said the governor is “putting his money where his mouth is” by increasing Kaduna’s budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector.
