Ginger farmers in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State are recording promising harvests, following an intervention by the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to revive production after ginger blight destroyed a significant proportion of the crop in the area.
The intervention, which provides ginger planting materials and agricultural extension services, has reached about 3,400 farmers across 15 farming clusters, with plans to expand the programme to other communities and states.
Managing Director of BOA, Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin, disclosed this, on Sunday during a visit to ginger farms in Kachia to inspect mature crops and harvested produce under the programme.
Sotinrin said the intervention, which began last year, was designed to rebuild Nigeria’s ginger industry following the devastating impact of ginger blight on farmers and production in major growing areas.
He explained that some of the harvested ginger would be used for tissue culture to multiply planting materials and enable the bank to extend the programme to more farmers.
According to him, the process involves taking ginger rhizomes to specialised laboratories for multiplication before transferring the resulting plantlets to nurseries, where they would be developed into seedlings for distribution to farmers.
The BOA managing director said the bank was working towards establishing ginger nurseries in 16 states as part of a broader strategy to expand cultivation and strengthen the country’s capacity to recover from the disease outbreak.
He expressed optimism that sustained intervention and expansion of production could raise Nigeria’s ginger output to three million tonnes within five years, potentially generating about $3 billion in economic value.
Sotinrin said the projected growth would create opportunities for farmers to increase their earnings, improve their livelihoods and contribute more significantly to the national economy.
‘The people that you’ll call poor farmers or vulnerable farmers, they’re the ones that will be making N70 to N80 million per hectare, not me,’ he said, highlighting the potential financial returns from ginger cultivation.
He added that BOA was providing agricultural financing at an interest rate of nine per cent, in line with the Federal Government’s directive to improve farmers’ access to affordable credit.
The initiative involves collaboration among the Federal Government, Kaduna State Government, agricultural institutions, local authorities, traditional leaders and farmer groups. The National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services (NAERLS) and Agrolog are also contributing to efforts to restore production and provide technical support.
The Chairman of Kachia Local Government Area, Dr. Manzo Daniel Maigari, said ginger blight had destroyed about 90 per cent of production in the area, depriving many farmers of their primary source of livelihood.
Maigari explained that farmers received support, including alternative agricultural inputs, following the outbreak, but production had yet to return to its previous level.
He estimated that the sector had recovered to about 30 per cent of its former capacity, expressing confidence that sustained support could accelerate recovery within the next two years.
The council chairman also highlighted the importance of women’s participation in the revival programme, saying it had set a target of at least 50 per cent female participation, although he did not provide the number of women currently benefiting.
Agrolog’s Operations Manager, Cham Datiyoung Yakubu, said the organisation was responsible for coordinating farmers into clusters and providing extension services to guide cultivation and monitor crop development.
‘Our role is to provide extension services and coordinate these farmers, which we did. We formed them into clusters,’ Yakubu said.
He disclosed that the programme also included internally displaced farmers affected by insecurity, with more than 900 displaced farmers organised into one cluster.
According to him, the farmers were expected to begin harvesting within three weeks of an earlier assessment, although security concerns had limited physical visits to their farms.
Yakubu said reports from extension monitoring indicated that the crops were developing well despite the challenges associated with accessing the cluster.
The programme currently covers 15 clusters: Assako 1, Matankadi Farms, Utro Akyi Muli Cooperative, Mothercat, Mission Farmers, CM Cluster, Maigidas, Zisshya, Gidan Tagwai Ginger Farmers, Sakainu Farmers Cooperative, Kachia Urban, Maraba Farmer, Bazachat Farmers, Ibika Farmers Group and Jerry Farms.
Cluster heads Malachy Gadani of Gidan Tagwai Ginger Farmers and Caleb Dallah of Ibika Farmers Group commended BOA for the intervention, saying it would help farmers recover from losses caused by ginger blight.
One of the beneficiaries, Blessing Ali, also expressed appreciation to the bank, describing the intervention as a positive development for ginger farmers in Kaduna State.
Beyond ginger, Sotinrin said BOA was working with the Federal Government on interventions across other agricultural value chains to improve farmers’ earnings and strengthen food production.
He cited the Guaranteed Minimum Price programme for maize, explaining that the government had intervened in the market by purchasing produce at a guaranteed floor price to protect farmers when market prices declined.
According to him, the intervention helped raise prices and encouraged farmers to return to their farms rather than abandon production because of unfavourable market conditions.
He also disclosed that the bank was exploring ways to support cassava farmers by partnering with processors of cassava derivatives to purchase produce left on farms and offer farmers better prices.
Sotinrin acknowledged the contributions of President Bola Tinubu, the Kaduna State Government, the Kachia local government chairman, traditional rulers, cluster heads, BOA staff and NAERLS to the ginger revival effort.
He said the broader interventions were aimed at strengthening agricultural production, cushioning farmers against severe market fluctuations and making farming more profitable.
The progress recorded in Kachia offers renewed hope for farmers whose livelihoods were severely affected by ginger blight, although restoring production to pre-outbreak levels will require sustained support, wider access to planting materials, effective extension services and continued investment in the value chain.