The Federal Government has flagged off the distribution of 10 million bags of fertiliser and announced a Guaranteed Price Model for two million smallholder farmers nationwide.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, while flagging off the input distribution in Zaria, Kaduna State, disclosed that farmers would be linked to a farmer aggregation company, who monitors production and link farmers to the market.
According to him, beyond the delivery of inputs, the aggregator will stay with the farmers throughout the production cycle, providing them with certified seeds, fertiliser and extension support from land preparation to harvest.
He said that after harvest, the aggregator would become the pathway to the market by buying the produce at a Guaranteed Minimum Price approved by the government, ensuring that farmers are able to recover the cost of their labour.
According to him, one-third of the beneficiaries of the inputs distributed under the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Fund (RH-SVCF) are women.
While noting that the biggest shift was not the volume of the inputs but the structure of delivery, the minister said: “For generations, farmers carried every risk alone. They borrowed to plant. They prayed for rain. And at harvest, they met buyers who knew they were desperate. What changes today?”
