The Victims Support Fund (VSF) on Monday commenced the distribution of dry season farming inputs to 3000 farmers made up of 1,800 in Gamboru community of Gamboru-Ngala LGA and 1,200 for Izge community, Gwoza LGA
The Chairman of VSF, Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, distributing the items, said the measure was to empower the returnees and encourage them to resettle and pick up their livelihood.
Danjuma, represented by the Executive Director of the fund, Prof. Nana Tanko, said the support was for 3,000 farmers, noting that the various interventions by VSF across the North East since its inception in 2014 was for farmers including returning persons displaced by the insurgency from four camps in Maiduguri back to their ancestral home.
According to Danjuma, the latest support for farmers on irrigation in Borno, which is going to be the last major event in the state as VSF prepares to round off its activities, is in support of the Borno State Agricultural Initiative.
Advising beneficiaries, he urged them to use the inputs effectively to make sure they get the desired result at the end of the season.
“Each farmer is getting 25 kg of rice seed, 50 kg of fertilizer, two litres of insecticides, one litre of herbicide, one Knapsack sprayer, while Agricultural extension workers have been trained by VSF in the location to guide the farmers on the farm.”
Gov. Babagana Zulum of Borno lauded VSF for its numerous interventions in Borno which he said had continued to play vital roles in the ongoing reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement programme of his administration.
Zulum, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Bawu Musami, said the support to irrigation farmers was timely at this critical time of food shortage.
He identified the challenge posed to rain fed agriculture by climate change, adding that dry season farming remained one of the major ways to tackle food security.
VSF was established by the Federal Government, and has been working in the North East since 2014, providing succour to victims of insurgency in areas of livelihood support, peace building, education, recovery and construction.