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From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin has unveiled a plan to empower 558 young farmers with N2.79 billion under the Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the North West (BIARN).
The move is to revive agriculture in the seven north west states.
Addressing journalists at the National Assembly yesterday, Senator Jibrin, represented by his Special Adviser on Policy and Monitoring, Professor Bashir Muhammad Fagge, explained that BIARN aims to restore the region’s agricultural prominence and achieve food security.
He noted that the initiative which aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, would select three young farmers from each of the 186 local government areas across Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto and Zamfara states. Each of the beneficiaries, he added, would receive an interest-free N5 million loan to invest in farming this season.
“The North West was once Nigeria’s food basket, but production levels have declined over the years,” he said, adding: “To change the narrative and harness our vast arable land, I have developed this initiative to empower young farmers and boost agricultural productivity.”
The Barau I. Jibrin Foundation (BIJF), which is spearheading the initiative, is collaborating with a national financial institution to implement the programme.
According to Senator Jibrin, discussions with the institution’s management had been fruitful, and final arrangements for the project’s launch in April 2025 were near completion.
A breakdown of the beneficiaries shows that Kano has 132, Katsina has 102, Jigawa has 81, Kaduna has 69, Sokoto has 69, Kebbi has 63 and Zamfara has 42.
He stated that the beneficiaries would focus on cultivating maize and rice, while emphasising that though Nigeria produced 8.9 million metric tonnes of paddy rice in 2023, it was still insufficient to meet the growing demand, hence the initiative’s aim to bridge that gap by empowering young farmers with financial support and guidance.
He also disclosed that an implementation committee chaired by Professor Fagge has already engaged in extensive discussions with the partnering financial institution, with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) set to be signed next week.
He urged Nigerians to support the project’s success, saying, “If we achieve food security, we would have solved more than half of our nation’s challenges. Let’s work together for the benefit of all.”
