The Kano State Project Implementation Unit (KSPIU) of Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) has commenced training on mechanize service provision and operation and maintenance on farm equipment, targeting 5,120 youths Farmer Organisations.
SAPZ is a comprehensive agro-industrialization program designed as a tool for creating integrated, agricultural-focused platforms that will accelerate private sector investment in value added agro- processing to unlock opportunities for improved food security, job creation, import substitution, rural poverty reduction and increased contribution of agriculture to national GDP.
Speaking at the opening of the two-day training, Engineer Balarabe Shehu Wudilawa, Agro-processing Engineer for Kano unit of SAPZ, said the aim of the training is to equip the youth with knowledge of agricultural mechanization to become self-reliant by being service providers.
According to him” The
programme has been innitiated by Federal Government of Nigeria, in Collaboration with), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), Private Sector investors and state governments, including Kano, Ogun, Imo, Kaduna, Cross River, Kwara and Oyo states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the first phase.
Wudilawa said that “the Youths would be trained on maintenance and operation and other aspects needed to be professional mechanize service providers.”
He explained that the training targets 8 Local Government areas comprising Kura, Bagwai, Bebeji, Gezawa, Dawakin Tofa, Garun Mallam, Dambatta and Bichi.
He said” the train-the-trainer program had selected 56 participants from 56 Farmer Organisations (FOs) “to stepdown the training to the remaining Farmer Organisations”.
“For this training, we are targeting 5,120 youths farmers from these eight Local Government areas for 2025.
“For effectiveness, we have divided the training into two phases. In the first phase, we are training 2560 youth. Even within this 2560, we are training some Farmer Organisations which will stepdown the training to others,”
Engineeri Wudilawa disclosed that there is provision for equipment to the target Youths after the training is contained in the SAPZ 2025 annual work plan and budget.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony, Permanent Secretary, Kano State Ministry for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bashir Sanusi, said the present administration had doubled the state’s commitments to agricultural development in different aspects.
He therefore called on the participants to utilise the opportunity to learn and practice the knowledge they acquire during the training.
According to Sanusi, the training is a significant milestone in the history of Kano where thousands of Youths would be trained to become professional service providers.
He noted that the training would complement the government’s commitment in providing job opportunities to the teeming Youths, calling on the participants to embrace what he described as the “rare opportunity in order to be self-reliant”.
In his paper presentation, Professor Muhammad Shuaibu Abubakar from the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Engineering, Bayero University Kano (BUK) described maintenance of farm machineries as the backbone of the mechanize agriculture.
He spoke at length and gave an insight on operation and maintenance of farm machineries, Professor Abubakar warned that rough handling of machineries would cause loss of investment.
He also demonstrated in the safe measures of handling the machines to avoid injuries and even loss of life.
Part of the training modules includes; operation and maintenance of farm equipment, mechanize service provision entrepreneurship and Business Management and practical Sessions.
The Resources Persons who conducted the training included: Professor M.S Abubakar, Prof. S.K Shittu, Dr. MM. Nasidi and Dr. MD Zakari, all from Agricultural & Environmental Engineering, Bayero University Kano.
It has been observed by the Knowledge Managent and Communication Unit of SAPZ Programme KSPIU, that all the participants had expressed their delight for the opportunity given to them to participate in the training, thereby restating commitments to utilise the opportunity to become service providers and pledged to stepdown the training effectively.