By Tajudeen Yusuf
Not many people are aware that grapes are actually being cultivated in Nigeria. They are grown in Kaduna to be specific. The recent news item detailing how Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, is set to ensure the state becomes a hub for grape farming in the country, must have been surprising to them.
This revelation occurred when the Grapes Producers Processor and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NGRAPPMAN), led by its National President, Alhaji Abdullahi Dalhatu, visited the governor. It was at that meeting that Sani promised to boost the production of grapes in the state.
“We are committed to supporting grape farmers in Kaduna State to improve their yield and increase production,” Sani said.
“We believe that grape farming has the potential to create jobs, stimulate economic growth, and improve livelihoods in the state. Kudan Local Government will not only be a grape-farming hub in the country, but Kaduna State Government will also support businesses around the value chain. We want to assure you that Kaduna State is on track to further increase its grapes production, potentially positioning Nigeria among the top 10 grapes-producing countries in Africa, with the government’s continued support. We will create the enabling environment for your businesses to thrive. Grape farming will create jobs and other businesses, contributing to the overall economic growth of Kaduna State.”
In a recent Instagram video, farmers strolled through a vineyard in Kudan Local Government Area. Creeping overhead like tresses hung bunches of green and red grapes. If its location was not authenticated, it might have been difficult for some to believe this was in Kaduna. But due to its peculiar climate and soil conditions, the area is favourably disposed to the cultivation of grapes. In fact, Kudan local government area reportedly accounts for 85% of the country’s grape production.
And now that the state government is beaming its development searchlight on it, grape farming is sure to get a fillip. Commending the governor for his agro-friendly policies and programmes, President of NGRAPPMAN, Alhaji Abdullahi Dalhatu, said: “We believe that this initiative will have a positive impact on the lives of grape farmers and their families, and we look forward to working with the Governor to achieve this goal.”
While Governor Sani has in less than two years stamped his developmental imprint across different sectors all over the state, in the area of agriculture, his administration has been phenomenal. Armed with the knowledge that agriculture employs 42% of the residents and contributes 42.81% to the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Sani has further encouraged it. His administration launched among other initiatives, ‘A Koma Gona’ (Get Back to Farm), a scheme which empowered 40, 000 smallholder farmers across the state with seedlings, input and equipment. It also gave 120 000 smallholder farmers 240, 000 bags of fertilisers.
Under his watch, the Kaduna State government is also partnering with investors across the various agricultural value chains. For instance, it inked a deal with StarAgri West Africa Limited to commit $120m over five years to transform state-owned warehouses and silos to modern facilities and deploy an electronic warehousing system. This would reduce post-harvest losses and benefit farmers. It is estimated that the partnership would create over 2500 direct and indirect jobs.
The state partnered with Sunagrow International Oil Ltd which sited a $50 million soya bean oil refining plant in Kutungare, Igabi Local Government Area. The plant has an expected production capacity of 500,000 litres per day. According to the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA), after Benue State, Kaduna is the second largest producer of soybean in the country and investment in soybeans can yield 75, 000 jobs and also increase farmers’ income.
It should also be recalled that in June last year, AfrEximBank partnered with the state to build the Africa Quality Centre in Kaduna.
“That Africa Quality Centre is where most of our farmers would now go for inspection for exportation,” Sani said at that time.
“Kaduna would be the only state in Northern Nigeria where even people outside Northern Nigeria and even some countries would come for their exports.”
In addition to all these, the state government has also invested in the Galma Irrigation Scheme in Zaria, the Mashigin Kaya irrigation system at Giwa LGA and the Hunkunyi Dam at Kudan LGA.
But Sani could not just have rekindled farming in the state without addressing the insecurity that affected every other thing. In an arrangement that is now known as ‘Kaduna Model’, the governor got residents and stakeholders in affected communities, state and federal security officials like the vigilante, police, immigration, soldiers and even the department of State Security, to collaborate on wiping out bandits and banditry. And like magic, it is working. A place Birnin Gwari which used to be a hotbed of criminality is now calm and peaceful, a situation which is reinvigorating the town.
“The ‘Kaduna Model’ is a comprehensive framework that addresses the root causes of insecurity and provides a sustainable solution to the problem,” Sani said in October 2024 while commissioning a road that would be utilised by 62 agrarian communities in that axis.
“Let us resolve disputes through dialogue, not violence. Enough is enough. The days of kidnapping, cattle rustling, force levies, and other criminal activities are over.”
While resources are scarce, Sani’s administration is intent on bringing development in the form of good roads closer to farmers in the rural areas.
“Even if we get some small money, I will use it to construct roads in rural areas so that our rural farmers will have roads to take their farm produce to the market,” the governor said during a town hall meeting in April 2024,.
So far, the state government has embarked on 69 rural roads mainly to connect the agrarian communities. Together with other interventions like distributing farm equipment, seedling and agro-chemicals, many smallholder farmers are going back to the farms. This smart move would ensure Kaduna maintains its lead in the production of ginger and maize by contributing 76.4% and 24% respectively to the national yield and second in the production of soybeans contributing 9.4% to the national yield. The state also produces bountiful yields of crops like rice, beans, millet pepper, tomatoes and onions.
Indeed, there is so much developmental news coming out from Kaduna State that one begins to wonder whether it is the only northern state progressing in this present democratic dispensation. From ensuring security returns to all parts of the state, to road construction, promoting agriculture and also encouraging investments in the solid mineral sector, to providing social goods like education and health, Sani keeps raising the bar for his administration. But the governor’s intervention in agriculture has been the most consistent.
Surely, while someone may never be able to satisfy everyone, it seems Kaduna under Sani, and via agriculture, is attempting to satisfy every human belly. And one does not need to be a seer to know that the outcome of this attempt would be a major victory against hunger and unemployment. It would be a win-win for Kaduna that other Nigerian states can also emulate.