The FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) Programme in Niger State says it has spent N437 million on constructing a road and rehabilitating two dams in three local government areas of the state.
Alhaji Baba Shaba, the Communication Officer of FADAMA III (AF) Programme in the state, made this known in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna, the state capital, on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.
He said that N270 million was spent on the nine-kilometre road in Edozhigi community of Gbako Local Government Area to facilitate the efforts of farmers to transport their produce to the markets.
“The newly constructed road covers about nine kilometres and each kilometre costs N30 million. This road is very important to farmers in the area, particularly because we are encouraging them to adopt all-year round farming.
“The irrigation dam is located along the road, hence the need to construct the road to make the dams accessible to the farmers,’’ he said.
Shaba appealed to farmers in the area to take due advantage of the road to increase their productivity, while shunning middlemen who were always interested in buying their crops at giveaway prices.
In a related development, the communication officer said that the FADAMA III (AF) programme had rehabilitated an irrigation dam in Edu, Lapai Local Government Area at the cost of N70 million.
Besides, Shaba said that N97 million was spent on construction of an irrigation dam in Loguma, Agaie Local Government Area of the state.
He said that the rehabilitation and construction of the irrigation dams were aimed at facilitating the efforts of the farmers to engage in dry-season farming and boost food security in the country.
By Rita Iliya
