The Benue State Government has launched a pilot programme to empower 10 farm clusters across the state with tractors, improved seeds, inputs, and access to markets.
The initiative, inaugurated on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Bureau for Agricultural Development and Mechanisation in Makurdi, is part of the state’s plan to revive its status as Nigeria’s food basket.
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“The scheme is designed to provide farmers with tools, knowledge, and structured opportunities that will make agriculture profitable again,” the governor’s spokesperson, Tersoo Kula, said in a statement.
Governor Hyacinth Alia, represented at the ceremony by his deputy, Sam Ode, described the scheme as a gateway to prosperity. He said the direct involvement of credible private partners would make mechanisation more affordable and accessible for farmers.
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“By dealing directly with manufacturers, the costs of these machines will be significantly reduced, making it easier for the government to provide subsidies,” Mr Alia said, while handing over a tractor key to the President of the Benue State Farmers Cooperative Federation.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Benjamin Ashaver, said the programme would improve yields and create wealth and opportunities for women and young people.
“Benue must continue to lead in agricultural innovation as the food basket of the nation,” Mr Ashaver said.
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Mohammed Yaro, who represented Mass International, one of the private partners, reaffirmed his company’s commitment to the scheme. He announced plans to establish a tractor assembly and innovation hub in Benue, expected to create about 5,000 jobs.
“This goes beyond assembling tractors; it is about building a hub for innovation, training, and job creation,” Mr Yaro said.
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Similarly, Elias Ameh of SABASPAC International Limited said the Outgrower Cluster Farm model had been developed to strengthen smallholder cooperatives. He disclosed that more than 120,000 farmers had already been captured in the programme’s database.
A representative of the Senior Cooperative Farmers Federation welcomed the initiative but appealed to the government to provide further subsidies on tractors and inputs to ease farmers’ transition to mechanised farming.
“We want to return Benue to its rightful place as the food basket of the nation,” the representative said.
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