The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), on Friday, commenced the distribution of fertilisers and other farm inputs to farmers affected by the 2018 flood in Benin, Edo.
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The Director-General of the agency, AVM Muhammad Muhammed (rtd.), said that the special intervention was approved in 2019 by the Federal Government after due documentation.
He said that the documentation commenced with the verification of the affected farmers, which was closely followed by the distribution of farm inputs and seedlings.
“After the documentation and verification, 31,185 farmers affected by the flood are to benefit from the various farm inputs, including fertilisers, seedlings, agro-chemicals and max sprayer.
“The total quantity of NPK fertilisers required after verification of the affected farmers was 37,250 bags of 50kg of fertilisers, which have been delivered to Edo.
“Of this number, 16,904 bags have been distributed to the beneficiaries in two local government areas of Etsako East and Etsako Central,” he said.
The director-general added that 7,887 bags would be distributed to the affected farmers in Esan South-East Local Government area.
According to him, the distribution of fertilisers to the affected farmers marks the final phase of assistance from the Federal Government.
He appealed to the beneficiaries to make the best use of the items, noting that the frequent occurrence of flood had continued to threaten farming activities in Nigeria.
Responding, the Gov. Godwin Obaseki commended the federal government for responding to the state’s request.
He assured that the items would be distributed to the beneficiaries, along with state extension services, to take advantage of the cropping season for better yield.