Ministry of agriculture and rural development has given approval for the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) to procure 500,000 units of tricycles, popularly known as Keke-Napep to ease the conveyance of food and agricultural products from farms to markets across Nigeria.
At the unit price of average of N800,000 for a tricycle, the project is to gulp as much as N400 billion to execute.
Minister of state for agriculture and rural development, Mustapha Baba Shehuri who gave the nod yesterday while welcoming stakeholders including AFAN members and its partners, Buck Staker Nigeria Ltd and Sounghor Motors, South Korea, in Abuja noted that the use of tricycles by the smallholder farmers in the community across the country would ease means of transportation, ensure that food and agro- allied products arrives the nearby market fresher and increase income of the smallholder farmers.
A statement by the ministry’s chief information officer, Ezeaja Ikemefuna said Shehuri urged the AFAN and its partners to ensure that the tricycles meet standard specification, insisting that they must be a robust collaboration between the three tiers of government and the AFAN in the delivery of the tricycles to the farmers.
AFAN president, Alhaji Farouk Mudi noted that the 500,000 units of tricycles will create direct and indirect employment for over two million of its registered members who will access loan to buy the tricycles.
Mudi added that its partner, Buck Stalker Nigeria Ltd will establish assembly plants across the Geo- political zones, which according to him will create employment opportunity for our teeming youth
