Yobe partners Turkish firms on irrigation, meat processing

The Yobe State government has collaborated with some Turkish investors to develop irrigation farming and meat processing in the state to ensure food sufficiency and security and drive economic growth.

Governor Mai Mala Buni, who led a state delegation to Turkey, said it has become necessary to explore and expand irrigation programmes to meet the food needs of the state and export some for revenue.

“We have the land, the youthful population for adequate labour, and water resources for large irrigation projects.

“We will deploy resources to make irrigation farming attractive, profitable, and a major source of employment for our youth.

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“The government would support individual farmers and cluster farming groups to cultivate food crops like corn, rice, and wheat.

“Government will also facilitate the cultivation of cash crops including sesame seeds and groundnuts among others,” the governor said.

Similarly, the delegation had discussions with meat processing companies to take advantage of the large deposit of livestock in the state.

“Yobe State is a hub of livestock deposit in Nigeria; we will take advantage of the large deposit to process and export meat to other parts of Nigeria and abroad,” Gov. Buni said.

“We are committed to processing both ruminants and cattle meat to provide healthy meat locally and internationally,” he added.

Abdulgani Affura, the General Manager of AFKO Pivot Irrigation Systems, a Turkish firm, assured that his company would provide all the required equipment to develop irrigation in Yobe.

“We are working in 45 countries across the world with a few in Africa. We will manufacture the required equipment that is most suitable to your environment,” he assured.

Ismail Bagdu, General Manager, Teknotes Tasarim, said his company would provide modern abattoirs with modern equipment for a good package system suitable for export.