3rd April, 2017
The Katsina State chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has called on the youth to key into farming as their means of livelihood.
The state Chairman of the association, Alhaji Yau Gojo Gojo, made the call on Monday in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Mai’adua.
He said that youths and school leavers, as well as graduates and those who were gainfully employed, should take up farming so as an alternate source of income and also to improve their living standards.
Gojo Gojo praised the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers Programme as a blessing to the nation, saying that it had generated job opportunities, while boosting food security.
He advised politicians and those occupying elective positions to encourage the citizens and youths in particular to participate in the agricultural programmes, saying that the era of depending on the proceeds from petroleum sales for the country’s sustenance was over.
Gojo Gojo said that farming was a very lucrative enterprise, adding that he cultivated over 1,000 hectares of land every farming season, while producing about 10,000 tonnes of maize, guinea-corn and vegetables.
He said that his farms in Mai’adua and Funtua Local Government Areas were engaged in poultry and livestock production.
“I have 30,000 broilers and layers and I sourced the chicks from a farm in Otta, Ogun State,” he said.
He said that his farms had over 160 regular workers apart from the casual workers.
READ: Kwara Youth Farmers Seek Land For Farming
Gojo Gojo, who sadly recalled that he lost 52,000 chickens to the Bird Flu epidemic in 2015, said that that he was, however, able to replace them.
“We now produce over 150 crates of eggs every day and also produce thousands of litres of fresh milk.
“We have customers from the neighbouring countries like Niger Republic,’’ he added.
Gojo Gojo called on Federal Government to fully mechanise agriculture, stressing that tangible efforts should be made to encourage farmers to migrate from the traditional system of farming, as the nation’s population had increased significantly.
He lauded the efforts of Katsina State Government for improving the security of the state, adding that farms, agricultural produce as well as livestock in the state were now fully secured.
He, however, urged the federal and state governments to ensure the timely distribution of fertilisers and seedlings so as to facilitate early crop growing and increased yields.
NAN also revealed that Gojo Gojo was once the Speaker of Katsina State House of Assembly between 2007 and 2015.