(Ecofin Agency) - To support its farmers, the state of Sokoto in Nigeria will buy 9,000 tons of fertilizers and 16,000 water pumps for N1.7 billion ($8,533,000), Alhaji Umaru Nagwari, State Commissioner for Agriculture, announced.

These products will be shared between the 23 local governments of the Northern State of Nigeria and dispatched to farmers, during the dry and raining season. The investment aims mostly to boost local production. Fertilizers which will cost N8,000 ($40) a bag, will be sold to farmers with a 75% subsidy. “Food security is so important for the federal government and this is why we must in no case play with population’s supply,” Nagwari tols FreshPlaza.

Construction of a tomato processing plant and a tractor assembly unit is also being considered. The project should be carried out in collaboration with Erisco Foods limited.