Zamfara State Government has set aside 135, 000 hectares of fertile land for cotton farming, the Executive Director, Patriots for the Advancement of Peace And Development, Dr. Sani Abdullahi Shinkafi, has disclosed.
Speaking on the one year anniversary of Governor Bello Muhammad Matawalle. Dr. Abdullahi Shinkafi said apart from putting in place a Directorate For Accelerated Cotton Development, at least 65,000 cotton farmers have been registered to benefit from a loan scheme to boost cotton farming in the state.
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He said the reservation of the hectares of land across the 17 emirates councils in the state was in tune with the governor’s strategy to boost cotton farming in the state adding that cotton farming brought wealth to peasant farmers in the state in the past.
“Some years back, Zamfara State was doing well in terms of cotton production and ginning but most of these cotton ginneries are not working and the cotton farmers have shifted their attention to other cash crops but all these problems will be looked into.
“Moreover, Governor Bello Matawalle’s Rural Transformation Scheme is the reincarnation of Directorate of Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFRRI) of 1986 as other projects are in progress in many rural areas among which are: Danmarke, Kadaddaba, Ruwan Doruwa, Kanoma, Gwaram, Yardanya and Gidan Goga”
“Under ZSIP empowerment Programme, 6,600 youths were recruited and their stipends are being paid monthly. Six months into the programme, 11,800 women have benefitted,” he added.
