To promote economic growth and maintain food security, the Yobe State Government has partnered with Turkish investors to help boost irrigation farming and meat processing in the state.

Leading a state delegation to Turkey, Governor Mai Mala Buni stated that in order to meet the state's food demands and export some for profit, irrigation programs must be investigated and expanded.

This was disclosed in a statement released on Friday by Mamman Mohammed, the Governor's DG for Press and Media Affairs.

The governor gave the AFKO Pivot Irrigation Systems management assurances, saying: “We have the lands, the youthful population for adequate labour, and water resources for large irrigation projects.

“We will deploy resources to make irrigation farming attractive, profitable, and a major source of employment for our youth.

“Government would support individual farmers and cluster farming groups to cultivate food crops like corn, rice, and wheat.

The governor emphasized in the statement that the government will also assist in the development of cash crops, such as groundnuts and sesame seeds, among others.

In response, Abdulgani Affura, General Manager of AFKO, gave his word that his company will supply all the equipment needed to advance irrigation in the state.

“We are working in 45 countries across the world with a few in Africa, we will manufacture the required equipment that is most suitable to your environment,” he assured.

To capitalize on the substantial cattle deposit in the state, the delegation also held discussions with meat processing companies.

“Yobe State is a hub of livestock deposit in Nigeria, we will take advantage of the large deposit to process and export meat to other parts of Nigeria and abroad” Buni said.

“We are committed to processing both ruminants and cattle meats to provide healthy meat locally and internationally,” he added.

According to Ismail Bagdu, General Manager of Teknotes Tasarim, the company will provide contemporary abattoirs with cutting-edge machinery to create a high-quality package system appropriate for export.

The worldwide manager of CEMSAN, Melik Ceyhun, also reaffirmed the company's pledge to work with the Yobe state administration to transform the state's economy using its livestock holdings.