The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has donated 41,522 litres of liquid gel fertilisers to the Plateau government for onward distribution to farmers affected by the 2018 conflict in the state.
The Director-General (D-G) of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, made the presentation to Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang on Thursday in Jos.
Mrs Umar said the liquid gel fertiliser was a substitute for the outstanding balance of NPK fertiliser allocated to Plateau under the National Food Security Council-Emergency Agricultural Intervention (NFSC-EAI) programme. initiated in 2020.
The D-G, who was represented by the agency’s Director Planning, Research, and Forecasting, Dr Onimode Abdullahi, explained that a litre of the liquid gel fertiliser was equivalent to a 50 kg bag of NPK 20-10-10 fertiliser.
She attributed the delayed distribution to regulatory changes imposed by the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI).
Umar said that changes led to the termination of the contract between NEMA and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) for the supply of NPK fertiliser to benefiting states.
The D-G commended Governor Mutfwang for his tenacious efforts towards boosting agricultural empowerment and food security policies in the state.
She appealed for the prompt distribution of the product to its intended recipients.
Mutfwang commended the agency for keeping its word and assisting the victims.
The governor gave assurance that the fertiliser would be distributed transparently and equitably among the intended beneficiaries.
According to him, the distribution will be done through the various farmer cooperatives in the state to ensure that it gets to the actual beneficiaries.
NAN
