Special Adviser to Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu on NYSC and Students, Murtala Musa Habib has said the transformation of the agricultural sector in Kebbi by the Bagudu led administration is equal to none in the history of the west Africa region.

Murtala stated this while speaking in an event organized by the African Union Economic Social and Cultural Council Nigeria in celebration of the International Youth Day themed “Youth Engagement for Global Action”.

According to him, the success recorded from rice production, guinea, onions, sugar cane and the shea value chain wouldn’t have been possible without youth participation in the agro-sector.

He commended Dangote Group for setting up a rice mill in the state, saying it would create employment and boost the economy.

Recall that Bagudu who had visited the factory site at Saminaka in Shanga Local Government Area of the state, said the investment would also rack up the rice value chain and add value to local farmers.

Also, GBfoods, a global leader in culinary product manufacturing, in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Kebbi State Government and the Emirate of Yauri recently built a N20 billion Tomato processing factory in Kebbi State.

The factory is the second largest in Nigeria and the only fully backward integrated plant in ECOWAS – and has the largest single tomatoes farm in Nigeria. When all phases of the project are finished, the factory will be the largest fresh tomatoes processing factory in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The investment, in the world-class factory and adjoining farm, includes a drip irrigation and fertigation infrastructure, greenhouses, seed planting robots, an incubation chambers and a plethora of agricultural machinery.

The farm will serve a dual purpose; it will produce industrial tomatoes in the dry season and soya beans in the raining season. The tomato factory will convert fresh tomatoes into tomato concentrate used for producing Gino Tomatoes Paste and Gino Tomato Pepper Onion Paste while the soya bean will be used to process soya-bean oil which is a critical ingredient for GBfoods’ Bama and Jago Mayonnaise.