By Dirisu Yakubu

The National Agricultural Mechanization Cooperative of Nigeria, NAMCON has empowered no fewer than 4, 572 residents drawn from the 44 local government areas of Kano state on modern poultry farming.

The initiative is part of the cooperative’s contribution to the alleviation of poverty in Nigeria, particularly in rural areas and a subset of NAMCON’s Women Nurturing Birds for Wealth Empowerment Programme.

Addressing the beneficiaries in Kano, President of NAMCON, Dr. Aliyu Waziri said the goal of the initiative is to create jobs and uplift the standard of living of the people.

“We are in the business of creating job opportunities and elevation of the poor masses in Nigeria. That is why we are supporting the mission of the transformation agenda of Mr. President in diversifying the economy from oil to non oil. We want our farming to be mechanized,” he said.

On his part, Kano state coordinator of NAMCON, Alhaji Abdulhamid Yakubu said after intensive training, the association would help the beneficiaries to set up their farms.

A female beneficiary who could not hide her joy, Maryam Tijani Labaran said, “I am grateful to collect all these from the federal government. Thank you very much for the empowerment.”

Another beneficiary, Musa Mohammed had this to say: “I am grateful to President Muhammadu Buhari for this opportunity that he has given to us. It will benefit us not just now but for many more years to come.”

Women Nurturing Birds for Wealth Empowerment Program is designed to empower women and youth in poultry management and entrepreneurship. 60,000 women and youths are expected to benefit from this project nationwide and the scheme is expected to produce 125 million broiler birds per annum

Dr. Waziri who has since launched the programme in various cities in Nigeria said the Kano initiative “will go a long way in making farming attractive and rewarding to young people. This will curb the challenge of rural-urban migration and of course, reduce unemployment.”