The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) says its partnership with the Ministry of Defence has enabled thousands of farmers displaced by insecurity to return to their farmlands.
AFAN National President, Dr. Farouk Rabiu Mudi, stated this at a press conference in Kano on Tuesday.
He explained that coordinated security efforts under the present administration had reclaimed ungoverned spaces previously occupied by criminal elements, giving farmers renewed confidence to resume cultivation.
‘Many farmers are beginning to go back to their farmlands. IDP camps are witnessing transformation while most people have been returned to their homes. This approach is commendable,’ Mudi said.
He noted that AFAN recently conferred the title of Patron on the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa, in recognition of the military’s role in securing farmlands.
Mudi further disclosed that AFAN executives had participated in an agricultural study tour in Brazil, aimed at identifying innovations to support displaced farmers and those in IDP camps.
He said building on that, AFAN plans to host the Nigeria-Brazil International Agric Exhibition in Kano in November, in collaboration with the Kano State Government and the Kano Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KACCIMA).
He said several federal ministries, including Agriculture and Food Security, Livestock Development, Industry, Trade and Investment, and Foreign Affairs, are partnering in the initiative to move Nigeria from subsistence farming to mechanized agriculture.
Mudi urged AFAN members nationwide to key into the federal government’s vision, stressing that the association would continue to support innovations that strengthen food security.