By Kure Tashilane
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Country Director Dede Ekoue was in Nasarawa State with her team comprising representatives from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Finance to assess the progress the state had recorded so far in harnessing the value chain initiatives of IFAD.
IFAD Country Director Dede Ekoue noted that their visit to the state is a testament to the importance Nasarawa State Government had accorded the agricultural sub-sector which is very much tied to increased in food security and reduction in rural poverty on a sustainable basis through strong support and leadership.
She stated that Engineer Abdullahi Sule had demonstrated exceptional commitment towards ensuring that the investment made so far in the value chain development programme continues to yield visible results to the people of Nasarawa State.
” So, we really thank you for giving us this privilege to meet with you. We are here for the 11th supervision programme for the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) which is co-financed by the Federal Government of Nigeria in various states that are IFAD members …
” We are also here to assess the progress made by the programme in Nasarawa State and this support mission covers the nine (9) states that are captured ” Ekoue explained.
She pointed out that even though IFAD team are not going to visit the rest states, they made it a duty to visit Nasarawa State considering the significant impact that had been made here over time in the entrenchment of the various components of value chain initiatives towards reducing rural poverty among the people.
” Through your commitment, we have been able to achieve increase in agricultural production for farmers as more than 96% and IFAD had touched more than 4,300 farmers lives in the state. It is not all about producing raw products but also about processing ” Dede Ekoue observed.
The IFAD Country Director stressed that during their visit, they were privileged to have visited various processing centres across the state and that what they saw is deeply promoting sustainable agricultural activities as the women were seen transforming rice residues into something useful there by increasing their income.
She equally appreciated the Governor for his financial contributions in support of the women groups and youths towards making them produce more in an attempt to safeguard food security initiatives in Nigeria.
The IFAD Country Director equally thanked the farmers who are the producers, those involved in processing, those in the businesses of buying from farmers as the overriding objectives of the programme is to transform the economy while protecting the environment.
On his part, Dr. Kush Kukwi the Director Federal Ministry of Agriculture harped on the need for states to scale up counterpart funding of the project as the value chain development programme had impacted and keeps impacting house holds in various communities across the Country.
” I don’t think we have made a mistake by coming to Nasarawa State because the state is an agrarian in nature and we have been seeing what is happening on the television which is why we are here to see, take back to the ministry what is going on …
” It is our wish for sustainability that this programme can be upscaled to reach more people and to uplift the livelihood of our people ” Dr. Kush observed.
IFAD National Programme Coordinator VCDP Dr. Fatima K. Aliyu commended Nasarawa State Government for achieving the results they are seeing today due to the fact that they have been getting whatever they asked for in the course of carrying out their work.
” We are pleased to see our beneficiaries take what we have done in value chain development programme seriously. Henceforth, whether VCDP is there or not, these people will continue their businesses which is the whole essence of VCDP ” She noted.
Dr. Fatima revealed that the value chain development programme in each area has a nursery section for women with babies where they would be having fun as their mothers concentrate on their work as well as a solar powered borehole, an aggregation centre and a market store.
In his response l, Nasarawa State Governor Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule appreciated the International Fund for Agricultural Development team led by Dede Ekoue who were in the state for their 11th supervision mission aimed at ascertaining the level of progress made in the value chain development programme.
” I thank you sincerely for selecting Nasarawa State for this eleventh supervision mission of Value Chain Development Programme. In this part of the Country, Benue prides itself as the food basket of the nation; but we in Nasarawa State are the ones producing the food for the basket ” The Governor said in a light mode.
He stressed that he is always happy to see the women working hard in their farmers organization (FO) initiatives across the participating local government areas of the state.
The Governor however suggested the possibility of trying any other crop that does well in other local government areas of the state in an attempt to fully unlock the food value chain development initiatives.
He assured IFAD visiting team that his administration is committed to provide sustainable support to the programme.
IFAD is an international organization whose objective is to improve agricultural development and livelihoods in developing countries
Its projects and programmes are carried out in remote and environmentally fragile locations, including least developed communities and developing States.
The IFAD assists vulnerable groups such as smallholder farmers, pastoralists, foresters, fishers and small-scale entrepreneurs in rural areas by providing, among others, access to weather information, disaster preparedness, social learning and technology transfer that enables farmers to feed growing populations and increase the climate resilience of rural farming systems.