A total of 490 smallholder farmers in 20 local government areas of Bauchi State have received cash grants and livestock support under a joint empowerment programme of the Bauchi State Government, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Office and the African Union Development Agency–New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD).
The empowerment, carried out during an SDGs tour of the councils, saw the distribution of ₦5.5 million in cash grants and 108 goats to the beneficiaries, aimed at promoting self-reliance and improving livelihoods, particularly among the less privileged.
At the distribution exercise, the director-general of the Bauchi State SDGs Office, Mrs Lydia Shehu Gar, described the intervention as a major milestone in the ongoing efforts to strengthen smallholder farmers and enhance sustainable development in the state.
She said the initiative forms part of a broader AUDA-NEPAD-supported programme designed to drive food security, economic resilience, and prosperity through support for the agricultural value chain.
Gar explained that the SDGs office has implemented several empowerment activities, including training SDGs desk officers, disbursing cash support, distributing goats, and supplying agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, knapsack sprayers and seedlings.
She added that the profiling of smallholder farmers across all LGAs is ongoing.
The DG disclosed that 30 beneficiaries were selected from nine focus LGAs, while 20 beneficiaries each emerged from 11 non-focus LGAs, noting that SDGs officials would closely monitor the programme to ensure sustainability.
In their separate remarks, some local government chairmen commended the SDGs office and its partners for the timely intervention and pledged to ensure proper monitoring at the grassroots.
Some of the beneficiaries expressed gratitude to the SDGs Office and AUDA-NEPAD, promising to utilise the support judiciously in line with the programme’s objectives.
