Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government said it is set to develop about 4000 hectares of rangeland.
The government explained that the rangeland is expected to cater for at least 3,000 herdsmen and carry out a total of of 243km earthen roads targeted at 7 million rural dwellers beneficiaries across Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara States.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh disclosed this, on Wednesday, at Madobi village in Katsina State where he kick-started the ceremony of erosion-prone, farm connected market roads and rehabilitation of degraded rangeland.
In a statement, Ogbeh said the project is expected to cut across seven states in the Savannah Belt of the country.
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He added that the projects would take place under the comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP).
Said he, “What we are witnessing today, is part of a series of rural infrastructure build-up across the country under the present administration. Rural development such as this one is critical to the productivity of the rural people.”
In his response, Governor of Katsina State, Bello Masari who commended the Federal Government’s initiatives, disclosed that farmers in the state who had keyed into the Rice Revolution programme of the government were doing well to the extent that more than 80 per cent of those who performed 2018 Hajj were farmers unlike before.