FG approves N13bn to fight locust, other pests in 12 Northern states

TRACKING___The Federal Government has approved N13billion as intervention funds to fight Quelea birds, locusts, grasshoppers and other pests in selected 12 States in the north.

The benefitting states include; include Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe and Borno.
The Director of Information in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Theodore Ogaziechi, in a statement said the intervention fund was to ensure uninterrupted agricultural activities during the 2020 farming season.

The fund was also meant to control trans-boundary pests and minimise the impact of COVID-19 pandemic as well as guarantee both nutritional and national food security.

While flagging-off the 2020 dry season Control of Trans-boundary Pest at Birnin Kebbi International Airport, Kebbi State, the Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development, Muhammad Nanono, said the fund was released due to the outbreak of desert locusts in East Africa and the Middle East.

According to Nanono, “The present administration under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari is very determined to fight any menace that would truncate the tremendous success recorded so far, especially in the agricultural sector.

“The choice of Kebbi State for the flag-off is deliberate, in view of the extensive agricultural activities in the state and the immense cooperation and collaboration of the state government in the implementation of agricultural interventions over the years.”