John Shiklam in Kaduna

The President of the African Development Bank(AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has lauded Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, for the remarkable increase in budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector from N1.4 billion to N74 billion.

Speaking when he paid a courtesy visit on the Governor yesterday, at the Government House, Kaduna, Adesina praised Sani for his commitment to the transformation of the agricultural sector.

According to the ADB President, Kaduna was leading the way as the first to launch the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) in Nigeria.

‘’Kaduna’s leadership on this project reflects not just a vision for food security but a roadmap for economic prosperity and inclusive development,” Adesina said.

He added that  Kaduna remains a trailblazer, noting that it was, “the first state to launch the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone in Nigeria. This is a great day for us all.”

Adesina, expressed AfDB’s commitment to support Kaduna State in expanding the school feeding programmes and integrating them with the new processing zones.

He also promised  additional support for primary health care improvements, health insurance, and infrastructure, including water, sanitation, and digitalisation.

“We are proud to partner with a government that listens, that leads with compassion, and that is open to all,” he said.

He described Governor Sani as, “a model leader,  a listener, a unifier, and above all, a doer.”

In his remarks, the governor said  the AfDB President  was,  “a blessing to Nigeria, Africa, and humanity.”

Sani  applauded Adesina for his transformative work in agriculture across the African continent.

He recalled that Adesina’s E-wallet  initiatives, when he was  Minister of Agriculture years back, then benefited more than 15 million smallholder farmers across the country, mostly in Northern Nigeria.

The governor added, “The initiative aimed not only to transform agriculture but could have also addressed the problem of financial exclusion we are facing today, as it could have provided access to financial credit for our smallholder farmers.

“It could have also addressed the problem of insecurity we are facing in Northern Nigeria.

“In Kaduna, agriculture contributes about 42 per cent of our GDP and accounts for about 60 per cent of employment in the State.

“This is why we believe insecurity has hindered much of the development we could have achieved through agriculture.

“Because we believe it is one of the most important sectors to invest in, part of what we did was to increase the agricultural budget from N1.4 billion, which we inherited in 2023, to N74 billion in the current budget.

“By doing that, we became the first sub-national government to achieve the 10 per cent target of the 2014 Malabo Declaration, which set the goal of allocating 10 per cent of the budget to agriculture.”

The governor described the launch of the Agro-Industrial Processing Zone as a very important project for Kaduna State.

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