The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) inaugurated a 3.5-kilometre rural road linking Gusau and Gurgurau Village in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara on Thursday.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the project was inaugurated by the Zamfara Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Ibrahim Jibo.
Speaking at the event at Gurgurau, Jibo commended the Federal Government for the project and described it as a welcome development.
“This is one of the projects needed to promote rural agriculture. We are happy to witness this occasion and it gives me a great pleasure to be assigned to commission this project.
“This project will promote farmers’ socio economic activities and address security challenges facing our communities,’’ he said.
The commissioner appealed to the Federal Government to consider completing the remaining 2.5 kilometres of the road to Karazau Village to allow more communities to benefit from the gesture.
In his remarks, the Director in charge of Zamfara office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Alhaji Musa Raji, said the project was part of Federal Government’s project on rural development.
Raji said part of the ministry’s mandate was to make access roads linking farm clusters with towns.
“This is to enable farmers to evacuate their farm produce to markets.
“This is in addition to various projects executed in the state by the ministry like rural roads in Bukkuyum, Gummi and Kaura Namoda local government areas.
“Other projects executed by the ministry in the state include rural solar street lights and provision of potable water for rural dwellers,’’ Raji explained.
The Director commended the state government through the state’s ministry of agriculture for its collaboration with the federal ministry to promote agricultural activities in Zamfara.
“I am using this medium to thank the commissioner for agriculture in the state for honouring our invitation to inaugurate this project,’’ he said.
Alhaji Raji had earlier inaugurated a groundnuts processing plant constructed by the ministry in Damba community in Gusau Local Government Area as part of its projects to empower women through small agricultural businesses.
The village head of Gurgurau community, Malam Haruna Musa, commended the Federal Government for the project.
Musa said the road had reduced farmers’ hardship in transporting their produce to markets as well as transporting of patients, especially pregnant women to hospitals. (NAN
