Federal Government has announced plans to commence an audit and registration of farmers nationwide to ensure only genuine beneficiaries access agricultural interventions.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, disclosed this initiative during a technical session of the Government-Citizen Engagement Forum in Kaduna.
Abdullahi said the move aims to end the era of “briefcase farmers” who have been benefiting from agricultural programmes without contributing to the sector. “Only genuine farmers will benefit from government programmes. No more briefcase farmers,” he emphasized.
The minister highlighted the administration’s bold, data-driven reforms to revive agriculture, boost food production, and stop the capture of farming incentives by elites. He noted that the government has introduced initiatives such as the agro-pocket programme, which has seen over 133,000 hectares of wheat cultivated across 15 northern states.
Abdullahi also mentioned plans to support 44,500 rice farmers nationwide through an improved extension service system and the launch of 2,000 Belarusian tractors and 9,000 implements to modernize farming. Additionally, the government is developing special agro-processing zones to improve market access and value addition.
The minister urged northern stakeholders to confront persons sabotaging agricultural reforms, emphasizing the government’s commitment to ensuring that only genuine farmers benefit from its programmes.
