By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi Bauchi State Commissioner for Agriculture, Barr. Jidauna Mbami Tula has said that the state is delighted with the World Bank and the Federal Government for coming up with the capacity building training workshop for Fadama CARES beneficiaries aimed at supporting the vulnerable households and the poorest to regain their means of livelihood. Barrister Jidauna Mbami Tula while declaring open a capacity building workshop for farmers, facilitators and desk officers in Bauchi on Thursday, explained that the workshop in the state become possible with the release of preparatory funds approved by Governor Bala Mohammed. Tula attributed the conduct of the workshop to the state government’s commitment towards boosting agricultural production in the state, as well as the provision of grant by the World Bank to alleviate the hardships caused people as a result of the noble corona virus pandemic. “In addition, the government has brought Agro Liquid Fertilizer and distributed to 2,000 farmers as grant and subsidized the price for farmers to find it affordable. Also, knapsack sprayers were distributed to farmers across the twenty Local Government Areas in order to cushion the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic”, he said. Barrister Jidauna Tula however recalled with concern that the outbreak of corona virus has devastated the world economy and the agricultural sector in particular, hence the idea of the programme come to being in the country and particularly the state to cushion its effects. The commissioner also described the training programme as another empowerment process where farmers will be trained on how to prepare Community Action Recovery Plans (CARPS) across the 20 LGAs, targeting rural farmers and the most vulnerable in the society. He told the participants, “It will interest you to know that, agricultural inputs and other productive assets will be provided to this category of people as grant by the State Government to support them regain their means of livelihood lost as a result of Covid-19 pandemic”. Barrister Tula further explained that the programme also intends to upgrade the existing wet markets across the twenty Local Government Areas through the provision of VIP latrines, solar boreholes and many other social amenities. Tula also disclosed that the state government has procured desktop computers and generators for the 20 desk officers across the local governments in the effort to ensure that farmers find it easy to document the CARP processes and implementation accordingly. The commissioner therefore, implored upon the workshop participants to be focused, transparent and ensure accountability in the discharge of their representative responsibilities, while calling on them to ensure the safety of the facilities at their respective local government areas.
