The Executive Secretary of NADF, Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, has announced that the Federal Government, through NADF, is extending support valued at N1.6 billion to ginger farmers in three states, including the Federal Capital Territory.
This support is part of the GRATE package, which stands for Ginger Recovery Advancement and Transformation for Economic Empowerment.
The announcement was made during the launch of the Ginger Blight Epidemic Control Taskforce support Initiative in Kaduna, supported by the office of the Vice President.
The recent ginger blight epidemic affected approximately 15,000 ginger farmers across Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa States, and the FCT, coinciding with a period of significant growth in ginger exports for the country.
Abu cited statistics from the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS), indicating a 17% increase in revenue from ginger export, reaching N10 billion in Q2 of 2023 compared to N4.6 billion in the same period in 2022.
The establishment of the task force was a response to this epidemic crisis.
The support package provided to ginger farmers includes various inputs such as high-yield seed varieties, fertilizers, fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides.
Abu expressed the team’s anticipation of seeing ginger production thriving in rural communities once again in the near future.
In her remarks, Marian Moon, Technical Assistant on Agriculture from the office of the Vice President, underscored the government’s commitment to agriculture and ginger farming, recognizing Nigeria’s ginger as one of the best globally.
She urged farmers to ramp up ginger production to meet the growing demand.
The State Governor, Uba Sani, represented by his Deputy, Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, commended the federal government for its support to affected farmers in the state, encouraging farmers to continue their dedication to farming.
