New Telegraph 
Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Mariya Mahmoud, has said the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) project will create about 50,000 direct and indirect jobs in the territory.
Mahmoud stated this in Gwagwalada at the commencement of the distribution of agricultural inputs to FCT SAPZ project’s beneficiaries to boost agricultural production.
Represented by the Mandate Secretary, Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat, FCT Administration, Mr Lawan Geidam, explained that women would constitute 40 per cent of the beneficiaries.
She said that the 50,000 direct and indirect jobs would be created within the five-year duration of the SAPZ project. Mahmoud identified food as the most essential need for human survival, adding that agriculture plays a vital role in meeting this need.
She also said that agriculture remained the mainstay of the nation’s economy, providing livelihoods to millions of people and ensuring food security.
The minister, however, said that farmers and agro-entrepreneurs face numerous and complex challenges, ranging from climate change, poor agricultural practices, and access to markets. She stressed:
“These challenges require innovative solutions and collaborative efforts to address them. “It is for these reasons that the FCT Administration has fully embraced the SAPZ Project, designed in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The project is designed to inject the much-needed manpower, resources and investments to reinvigorate the agricultural sector for sustainable development.”
Mahmoud expressed optimism that the agricultural inputs would serve as a vital catalyst for building a more resilient and sustainable agricultural sector in the FCT. She identified the inputs as bull calves, animal feeds, improved seeds, fertilisers, crop protection chemicals and equipment.
