By: Bomba Dauda
Insurance Expert and Senior Special Adviser, Political Matters (office of the Deputy Governor) of kaduna State, Mr. Wilson Iliya Yange have donated fertilizer worth millions of naira to poor farmers and gave cash donations to traditional rulers across the twelve wards of Jema’a Local Government Area of the State. He said, the donations were made to help local farmers cope with the challenges pose by the rising input cost in agricultural production, especially fertilizer which is witnessing a sharp increased in retail price.
In a telephone conversation with Gurara Accord, Wilson, said: “I donated fertilizer because of three main reasons, it consistute around 70-80% of input cost in subsistent agriculture and due to the depletion of soil fertility as a result of climate change, dependency on fertilizer to raise soil fertility level in order to increase crop production has become necessary. Besides, most subsistent farmers are extremely poor and lack the financial wherewithal to purchase fertilizer. If I don’t help, some farmers will see their hope of meeting their food demand dash out which, will further plunge them down the poverty ladder.”
He went further to say, “This gesture is to attempt to close the demand gap in agricultural production and to cushion the effect risk by absent of fertilizer in crop production because poor farmers will be increasingly vulnerable if such is not provided.”
Wilson urged beneficiaries to make judicious use of the fertilizer on their farmland and not to monetize or sell them out and also called on wealthy individuals to always see the need to help the weak and most vulnerable people in our society. Saying, hardly can anybody succeed alone, the strong must help the weak for us to rise together
