Desmond Mgboh, Kano

The Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project,  will be formally unveiled by December.

The Manager, Agriculture Global Practice(Economic and Social Infrastructure), Islamic Development Bank, Mr. Nur Abdi, revealed this, yesterday, at a meeting with the state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.

The Islamic Development Bank is contributing $90 million to the project, while the Kano State government is investing $5 million. The project is to be implemented over a five – year period.

“This project is the Islamic Bank’s biggest investment in Nigeria,” said Abdi.

“It will contribute to the prosperity of Kano – that is why I am here from the bank’s headquarters in Jeddah, to discuss implementation arrangement for the project design,” he explained.

Abdi, said there was the need for the state government to expedite the release of its counterpart funds to the project to enable the commencement of certain jobs. He commended the Project Management Unit of the project for speeding up the preparation of the project documents.

Related News

In his remarks, governor Ganduje, said the project was conceived “to transform challenges inherent in pastoralism and agriculture in the state to opportunities for economic growth and enhancement.”

“We intend to transform the practice of herdsmen from a socio – cultural livelihood to a modern socio – economic venture. We want to prevent the movement of people and cattle to other parts of the country on foot because of the security implications,” he said.

Ganduje, said to complement the pastoral project, his administration commissioned experts to draft a blue print for the development of ranches within the state.

“We will also build a modern abattoir to replace the movement of cattle with transportation of processed meat.

We are also laying emphasis on animal development that is why we sent 72 children of the herdsmen to Turkey, to learn animal insemination,” Ganduje said.

The governor,said it was commitment to the success of the pastoral project, and promised full cooperation and timely release of funds for the project.