By Sarah Ogodo
In a bid to deepen collaborations with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture And Food Security, and to support the food security agenda of the Federal Government, Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc is bringing its expertise and experience to bear on Nigeria’s pursuit of a bumper wheat harvest this year by training extension agents and farmers under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP)/Jigawa Wheat Cluster Project.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NIRSAL, Abbas Umar Masanawa, OON, disclosed this to newsmen today during the capacity training workshop held in Jigawa state polytechnic Dutse.
Masanawa, who was represented by the the leader of the delegation of trainers from NIRSAL, Mr Suleiman Ibrahim said, the training sessions were held in four of the five emirates in the State.
He disclosed that a total of 355 extension agents and 706 farmer cluster leaders from Kiyawa, Birnin Kudu, Ringim, Hadejia, and Kazaure took part in the first phase of the training sessions, which were held in four of the five emirates in Jigawa State.
While pledging the Agency’s support for the food security agenda of the Federal Government of Nigeria through trainings, database building, innovation and more, Masanawa stated that “the participants are expected to transmit the knowledge gained along with the training materials received to the members of their respective clusters.”
The Managing Director and CEO noted that NIRSAL Plc, established to de-risk agriculture and facilitate commercial finance for agribusiness in Nigeria, has developed several models for de-risking primary production in what it considers “the upstream segment of the agricultural value chain”. This is against the backdrop of banks’ aversion to financing primary production because of the inherent risks.
He said, “The Federal Government has done precisely what it should: it has communicated its vision for food security in Nigeria, provided leadership, and is committing resources to back its vision.
“On our part, we are showing our readiness to support Jigawa State, and all other states, to walk the talk of the government. We are contributing our expertise by preparing these extension agents and farmers to make success out of this collective endeavour for Jigawa’s and Nigeria’s sakes.”
The first module in its capacity building package focused on Group Dynamics, with NIRSAL expecting the Project Implementation Committee and Extension Agents to adopt a geo-cooperative approach to cluster formation.