Jigawa State Governor, Muhammad Abubakar, has assured of his administration’s continued support for private investors, whose investments contribute to the state’s socio-economic development.
Abubakar stated this while inspecting WACOT Limited’s 500 hectares Gumel Farm Project for cultivating certified organic sesame.
During the inspection, the governor expressed satisfaction with WACOT’s progress in the past five years in Jigawa. He noted that the company commenced its Jigawa operations in 2016 by buying sesame from farmers through a pilot out-grower scheme with a few hundred farmers.
This scheme, he said, has grown to capture over 6,000 farmers in Gumel Emirate. The Chief Operating Officer (COO), WACOT Limited, Bibhu Nanda, appreciated the state government, Gumel, Emiirate and Gumel Local Council for their support to the firm.
“In the last five years alone, we have mobilised over 6,000 farmers and organised them into cooperatives, disbursed over N1 billion in the form of input credit financing (such as fertilisers, agrochemicals and seeds) to them, provided guaranteed market through a buyback arrangement, and trained them on critical farming techniques such as yield enhancement and provided routine farm advisory and extension services. In this period, we have recorded tremendous results in recovery,” he said.
