Through the World Bank-assisted APPEALS project, the Lagos State government is working to enhance farmers’ productivity and ultimately attain food security, OYEBOLA OWOLABI reports.
The World Bank supported Agro-Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) Project was introduced in 2017 to enhance the productivity of small and medium scale farmers, and improve value addition along priority value chains. It is being implemented in six states of Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Kogi, Enugu and Cross River.
The six-year project initially targeted 10,000 beneficiaries in Lagos in the three value chains of Rice, Aquaculture and Poultry. But, going by the scorecard five years after, the project has surpassed its target. About 12,350 jobs have been created across its three value chains, with about 17,467 direct and indirect beneficiaries.
The value of transactions hit over N1.094 billion in 2021. In Aquaculture, about N12.825 million was generated from Tilapia sales and N18.6 million from Catfish. While in poultry, N99.2 million was generated from broiler sales and N63.6 million for layers. The rice value chain generated N900 million, totalling about N1.094 billion worth of transactions.
A report by the Lagos Bureau of Statistics (LBS), following a Production Output Survey, said the Project contributed N333.94 million (0.07 per cent) to the state’s GDP in 2020.
These came to the fore during a media parley to review the Project’s achievements in the last years and chart the way forward. The parley, themed: ‘Zero Hunger: Forging ahead Together for Sustainable Actions’, held at the Project’s Coordinating Office in Oko-Oba, Agege.
State Project Coordinator Mrs. Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo noted that the Project was directly contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the THEMES Agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
She said: “The project has continued to promote productivity enhancement technologies and value addition through the demonstration of improved technologies. These have directly impacted the Project Development Objective. Most of these were confirmed through administrative data.
“The productivity of rice paddy in the state has increased from 2.0 MT to 3.5 MT/Ha. Tilapia has increased from 100kg/m3 to 140kg/m3, and broiler increased from 1.8kg/bird per cycle (live weight) to 2.35kKg/bird. The processed output and sales of products for the value chains follow the same trend.
“The Project has empowered about 1,786 women and youths under it Women and Youth Empowerment Programme (WYEP) with start-up grant support to 1,542 beneficiaries so far. It has also provided training support on socio-emotional skills for agribusiness in collaboration with Gender Innovation Lab/World Bank for some selected beneficiaries of the WYEP. In fact, over 38 per cent of our beneficiaries are women.
“Of specific note is the improvement in rice production which has moved from 1.5 to 3.5 metric tonnes per hectare for farrow 44. In the ofada section, farmers now yield about 2.5 metric tonnes from the former 1.5. It is also not just about the yield, but also the quality because now we have the long grain which means it can get to the international market. As a matter of fact, produce from the aquaculture and rice chains have successfully entered the international market.
“In 2020, the project supported about five clusters with cages and tilapia fish. In 2021, after six months, we were able to harvest about 7.2 metric tonnes of tilapia in each cage, and each tilapia was sold for 1,300. It has been massive.
“APPEALS Project has desilted various drainage channels that pose perennial flooding challenges to farmers around Erunwen, Adamo, Igbe, Ijede, Omitoro, Parafa in Ikorodu and Ebute-Afuye, Epe and others. Over 200 farmers (direct beneficiaries) have been affected positively through increase in fish production by over 50 per cent; while over 10,000 indirect beneficiaries have also been impacted owing to the mitigation of flood around their farms.”
Because the Project is focused on improving output, beneficiaries are not given cash but specific inputs following a NEEDS assessment of the farmer.
Sagoe-Oviebo said: “If you give people inputs and they don’t know how to utilise them, it’s a waste of resources. So the first thing we do is to educate our farmers on best technology practices to use to improve their trade. We show them real-time demonstrations and how they can adapt them to their work. It is at the point of adoption that we give them inputs based on their NEEDS assessment.
“This project is trying to fill the gap in best practices in farming, enhancing productivity, so we consider what technology we can give to these farmers to improve their work. These technologies can be in the form of equipment, inputs, infrastructure, energy, and so on, but it depends on what the farmer specifically needs. We do not give cash, that is certain, but our officers and enumerators go to these farms to know their challenges and then we support with inputs.”
Beneficiaries are also counting their gains and advocating that the Project be extended beyond the 2023 timeline. This, they said, would ensure its sustainability.
Secretary of the Fish Hatchers Association of Badagry (FHAB), Olumayowa JolaOluwa, identified water pollution and climate inconsistencies as some of the challenges they faced before the APPEALS’ intervention.
According to him, trainings and interventions such as providing water treatment plants, good stocks and feeds, have helped in no small measure.
He said: “We had challenges such as water pollution, maybe from iron or some microbial infections, but we need between 6.5 and 7.2 pH of water to get good production and it was a big challenge getting that. This then invariably meant we could not get a good brood stock bank to have fish. But when APPEALS came on board, we were supported with water treatment tanks, good stocks and feeds.
“We were also introduced to probiotic feed which has greatly improved our production. Hatching to juvenile takes about three months, but sometimes after working for about a month or two, infection can set in from feed or water, causing a fatal accident and taking you back square one. But APPEALS trained us on water treatment and even provided us with water treatment plant. Before now, we could only boast of about thousands of fishes, but now, even in my own farm alone, I can boast of about two million fishes in one cycle of three months, and that has been the experience of other farmers that partnered APPEALS in this intervention. We are proud of APPEALS and we are proud of this intervention.”
Another beneficiary in the poultry value chain, Seyi Ladega, said APPEALS has helped to address the challenges of road.
Ladega, who is Secretary of the Poultry Estate Farmers Association in Erikorodo, said beneficiaries were supported with grants and trainings on management and performance monitoring. She also applauded the linkage system incorporating farmers, off-takers, financiers, and processors in a chain of operation, maintaining that it would lead to a hub of massive production for export.
She added: “We had many difficulties when we started out – bad roads, unsustainable production – but APPEALS came and supported our plans, took us through different trainings, from management to production, and that has helped us greatly. APPEALS gave us record books to monitor our performance.
“APPEALS project has brought about a catalyst to further development in the estate, as many of us now work together after seeing the success that coming together can bring. We have formed formidable groups and the association is now stronger, more vibrant, and we are able to do so many things based on the trainings and experience we’ve had with the APPEALS project, particularly in terms of broiler production. “The APPEALS experience was very interesting and successful. We are not looking at Lagos alone, we are looking to start with West Africa and that’s why we have formed the broiler hub based on the prototype of what APPEALS has taught us. We are confident in our plans because there are off-takers and processors on ground. We can produce en masse as we want to stop the importation of frozen chicken.
“We say a big thank you to APPEALS for this great opportunity. Most of us would have left the business but for APPEALS which has been giving us the needed help.”
Saduat Salami is an off-taker in Erikorodo, and also a beneficiary of the project. She is thankful for the Project because getting fresh chicken to supply her clients has become easier. She added that APPEALS also supported her business with cold rooms for storage and preservation.
“My business supplies chicken to hotels and individuals but supply had always been an issue because what we usually got was fake imported frozen chicken. But when APPEALS came to our office and saw what we were doing, they offered to help us become better. The process was exhausting, and I almost gave up; the rigorous trainings, the business plan we had to present, but I later realised this was needed to ascertain we were in the business for real.
“The process over, we were supported with a 15 ton cold room which accelerated our work and we are able to take and meet more orders, even supplying outside Lagos.
“The beauty about buying poultry from here is that there are no preservatives. We are able to convince our customers of the freshness of the poultry, even offering to take them to the farms where we buy from. This was made possible through the APPEALS intervention. I’m so happy that I was patient enough with my team to go through the rigorous process, which is still on, because they keep calling us for trainings.
The project terminates in 2023 but the Lagos Office says its plans on road infrastructure and other interventions are on course.
Sagoe-Oviebo added: “This year, we will be promoting the caning technology because these are things that will change the narrative of agriculture in Lagos State. Our farm-access roads will be completed, the cottage industries are being built, we will install transformers in Igbodu and Araga, Epe, and also build jetties for our fish cages in Ebute Afuye and Afowo, Badary. Approvals would also be gotten for some business plans, while 2023 will be more of assessment to see the impact of the project in the last five years.”