Masara Narziki has taken its tenacity to maximize maize production in its catchment area to a higher height as the association has ventured into a sustainable farming project which is expected to increase yield and at the same time keep the used land fertile for generations yet unborn.
The novelty project dubbed “CONSERVATION FARMING“ is a Partnership between Masara N‘arziki, and Solidaridad West Africa with funding from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Netherlands. The other partners are YARA and Wienco.
According to the partners, the 5 year project aims to improve the food security situation in the three Northern regions.
The project also aims at reaching out to about 12,000 farmers who are all members of Masara N‘arsiki Association.
Under the project, beneficiary farmers would have their capacity built upon; they would be introduced to new sustainable farming practices and improved sustainable land use. They would also be trained on new methods of mulching and cover cropping.
Beneficiaries would also be assisted to put up their own warehouses for storage of farm produce.
The partnership project mandates Masara as the implementation body of the project. The association on its part is also investing in sustainable Agriculture, improved land preparation techniques aimed at restoring soil quality and awareness training on residue retention, crop rotation and the adoption of ripping as a method of land cultivation.
Most farmers have received training on land preparation and construction of warehouses and mechanized boreholes in module farms are in progress and expected to be completed in four months time.
The farmers who spoke to the media lauded Masara its partners for its continued support and had express happiness to be a part of the project. When the media visited the field, to inspect the work in progress. Aside the advancement of the construction work, most Masara farms were in good shape too.