The Federal Government says it has supported about 50,000 smallholder farmers in Gombe and Jigawa states with inputs for the 2026 rainfed and dry-season farming activities, Peoples Gazette reported on 27 September 2026.
Gombe: Inputs Now, Dry Season Next
In Gombe, 10,000 farmers received fertilisers, seeds and chemicals. A further 12,000 have been shortlisted for the dry-season rice and wheat programme. "We shortlisted 12,000 farmers for the dry season intervention programme, and we are awaiting approval," said Anyim Joseph, the Gombe State coordinator for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. A dam is under construction in Balanga to support irrigation.
Jigawa: Four Bags Each
In Jigawa, 20,160 bags of fertiliser went to 5,040 farmers under the 2026 Presidential Fertiliser Intervention. The allocation works out at four bags per farmer: 15,120 bags of NPK, or three each, and 5,040 bags of urea, or one each.
The bags were shared through two channels. A total of 3,040 farmers reached through the All Farmers Association of Nigeria received 12,160 bags, and 2,000 farmers reached through state agencies received 8,000 bags. The state also distributed 714 bags of maize flour to women's cooperatives, internally displaced persons, people living with disabilities and correctional centres.
Why the Dry Season Matters
Dry-season farming lets farmers grow a second crop on irrigated land after the rains end, adding to the national harvest without new farmland. Rice and wheat, the two crops in the Gombe programme, are both staples Nigeria imports in large volumes. More irrigated output in the north means more grain moving south to markets such as Lagos in the months when rainfed stocks run down.
The reach is modest against the need. Supporting 50,000 farmers across two states is a small share of the millions of smallholders who grow most of Nigeria's food, and the 12,000 Gombe farmers shortlisted for the dry season are still awaiting approval.
FoodPrices Nigeria will follow whether dry-season rice and wheat from the north ease grain prices in Lagos markets in the first half of 2027.