The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) programme in Kano State has initiated a community engagement and awareness campaign, extending its reach to eight additional Local Government Areas. This initiative aims to educate farmers, traders, women, and youths about the opportunities available under the SAPZ initiative.
Hajiya Rabi Mustafa Sadiq, the Knowledge Management and Communication Officer for SAPZ Kano Programme, disclosed this in a statement. The campaign is specifically targeting smallholder farmers, agro-processors, traders, and community-based service providers within Dawakin Kudu, Kumbotso, Tofa, Gwarzo, Madobi, Shanono, Minjibir, and Gabasawa Local Government Areas.
The SAPZ programme is a collaborative effort involving the Federal Government, the African Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), participating state governments, and private investors. It is being implemented across seven states and the Federal Capital Territory, including Kano, Imo, Kaduna, Cross River, Kwara, Oyo, and Ogun.
SAPZ is designed as a comprehensive agro-industrialisation strategy to attract private sector investment into value-added agricultural processing. Its objectives include enhancing food security, generating employment, reducing rural poverty, and increasing agriculture's contribution to the Gross Domestic Product. The programme's overarching goal is to foster the development of SAPZs in high food production zones to serve the domestic market and generate exportable surpluses.
The initiative also seeks to empower smallholder farmers, processors, traders, women, and youths by providing access to new market opportunities. SAPZ Phase I is projected to benefit approximately 1.5 million households nationwide, with women comprising 50 per cent of direct beneficiaries and youths aged 18 to 29 making up 40 per cent.
In Kano and Ogun states specifically, an estimated 75,000 direct beneficiaries are expected, primarily consisting of farmers, processors, traders, and service providers. SAPZ Kano has already made significant strides, having profiled 15,463 smallholder farmers in 2025 across eight LGAs: Kura, Garun Mallam, Bebeji, Bichi, Bagwai, Gezawa, and Danbatta.
Furthermore, over 12,000 farmers have received climate-smart agribusiness inputs for rice, tomato, and groundnut production through a matching grant scheme. Under this scheme, female farmers contributed 20 per cent of the package cost, with SAPZ funding the remaining 80 per cent. Male farmers contributed 30 per cent, with SAPZ covering 70 per cent, while youths contributed 25 per cent, and the programme funded the remaining 75 per cent.
To foster collaboration within the agricultural value chain, SAPZ Kano has established a Multi-Stakeholder Agribusiness Forum. This forum aims to strengthen partnerships among farmers, processors, financial institutions, and government agencies.
The primary objective of the ongoing sensitisation campaign is to inform and educate the target audiences about the SAPZ programme in Kano State, its priority value chains, catchment areas, aims, and objectives, while actively encouraging their participation in decision-making processes. The current list of SAPZ Kano's catchment areas includes Bebeji, Bagwai, Kura, Gezawa, Garun Mallam, Bichi, Danbatta, Dawakin Kudu, Kumbotso, Tofa, Gwarzo, Madobi, Shanono, Minjibir, Dawakin Tofa, and Gabasawa Local Government Areas.
