3,110 Graduates Vie For Spots In Sen. Barau Young Farmers Program
By Ahmad Tijjani Abdul
KANO (Kano, North West Nigeria) – No fewer than 3,110 graduates have applied for the Young Farmers Agricultural Revolution program of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I Jibrin, in the seven North West states.
Under the Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the North West (BIARN), the Deputy President of the Senate is set to empower 558 young farmers in the seven North West states. Applications for the scheme, which was opened on March 7, 2025, closed on Friday, March 21, 2025.
The program, implemented in collaboration with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), will see the successful applicants receive loans ranging from N1 million to N5 million to invest in farming this year.
This initiative aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which aims to achieve food security and create employment opportunities for the country’s teeming youth.
A statement by the Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, said Kano which has 44 local government areas topped the chart of applicants with 998.
The state-by-state analysis of the applicants showed that Jigawa came second with 590, Katsina 455, Kaduna 397, Zamfara 240, Sokoto 221, and Kebbi came last with 209.
After screening the applications, successful applicants will be contacted next week via the contacts they provided in their forms.
The program, chaired by Professor Bashir Mohammed Fagge, a professor of animal science, will be launched next month ahead of this year’s farming season.
Three graduates will be selected from each of the 186 local government areas in the seven states to participate in the program to cultivate rice or maize. In all, 558 graduates will be given the loan in the seven states.
The Deputy President of the Senate said the program was conceived to revive the agricultural sector, the mainstay of the North’s economy, in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on food security.