The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Stakeholders seek more govt’s attention for agric

    Stakeholders seek more govt’s attention for agric

    Experts have urged the government to avert food crisis by facilitating loans for farmers.They spoke at a seminar in Osogbo, the Osun State capital. OLUWAKEMI DAUDA reports.

    SINCE independence, agriculture has been one of the important sectors of the economy. It sustains other sectors such as banking, oil and gas.

    To assist the sector, the Federal and state governments should assist small-scale farmers to boost the economy, stakeholders have said.

    The Secretary-General of the group, Mr Gbolahan Adepegba, spoke at a seminar organised by the farmers and agricultural businessmen and women at Ibadan, Oyo State.

    The seminar, Adepegba said, was aimed at honing the skills of the principal operators in the agro-allied business ahead of the Agric Trade Fair coming up next year.

    He said: “The agricultural story is not the story of poverty of human and natural resources. It is, indeed, the story of neglect, systematic wastage of these immense riches at the altar of a system that does not care a hoot about the future of its people and what they would eat.

    “In every home, whether big or small, the ultimate in life is to get what to eat. With adequate food, men and women see themselves as the genuine representatives of God on earth, with the mandate and wherewithal to aspire to the highest level in life. But without food, they immediately become weak, depressed and lack both vision and mission.

    “What lack of food has shown is that food is greater than religion and position. Food is strength; it is light, it is good sense, knowledge and wisdom. It is a man’s greatest tool not only in developing himself, taming his health, but also in sustaining his life.”

    He added: “The intricate feeding relationship in the modern society could not have been possible without the people engaging in agriculture. Since providing food is the main stock-in-trade of farmers, to provide birds and meat and put food to good use for the people, the country needs competent and serious-minded Nigerians to engage in the agricultural business.

    “Research methods, farmers training and manpower development programmes and input supply are the means by which such competent people can be produced. Agriculture can be a complex and clumsy business at times, as those who are in it are wont to testify. It does not lead those of us that engage in it to quick money, though, the business is lucrative, but procrastination is the rule rather than the exception.

    “Agricultural speed is characterised by slowness, is often the bane of banks not willing to lend money to farmers because crops cannot grow and germinate in a day, while birds, and fish cannot develop without food. Everything about agriculture takes time to yield. This annoys the impatient farmers no end, part of the reason why oftentimes those that are engaging in other business think they know better, can act better and faster if they get into the agriculture.”

    Responding, the Executive Director of Ibikunle Farms, Chief Lakan Ibikunle, said the country has not made good use of its resources.

    He said: “The mode of obtaining government’s support and loans is bureaucratic and has not adjusted to meet the formidable challenges posed by the current food situation.”

    Ibikunle listed the problems as manpower loss arising from the use of cutlasses and hoes and the refusal of some banks to give loans to small farmers. Rather than doing this, he said, banks preferred importers of agro-allied products and short-term yielding ventures.

    He expressed concern and disappointment over the poor contribution of some banks to agriculture and their unwillingness to plough back enough of their profits into research to improve adequate food production.

    He also decried the high interest on bank loans.

    Ibikunle, a farmer and agricultural expert, understands the barometer with which to measure the impact of the banking policies on agriculture.

    He was not happy because “the standard of living of the farmers in the rural area has not improved considerably.”

    With the training, he said, the farmers have learnt new techniques; hence they are better because they can now produce more and earn more.

    “In order for the country to be self-sufficient in adequate food production, this government can still do more to encourage farmers.

    “Fertilisers, labour and equipment are too expensive and too hard to come buy. Small-scale farmers are able to manage better their small parcels of land than absentee large scale farmers who purportedly cultivate thousands of hectares of land,” Ibikunle added.

     

  • Govt slammed on lack of assistance to youths

    THE government has been criticised for not involving youths in agriculture by giving them the necessary support, such as land and loans.

    Alhaji Maruf Oyeniyi, Chairman Al-Maroof Farms, spoke in Osogbo, Osun State with The Nation.

    He also criticised the government for paying lip service to agriculture and focusing more on oil price.

    Maruf noted that government “attitude to the youth was discouraging despite the agricultural potential of the country. “Majority of them are jobless, while efforts by aged peasant farmers to turn the agricultural sector around and produce enough food for the people has not yielded the expected result”.

    He pleaded with government officials to build a virile economy through youth involvement in agriculture.

    “There is no better time for government at state and federal levels to build a virile economy through youth involvement in agriculture than now.

    “Empowerment of the youth, especially graduates through agriculture, must be identified as one of the major means through which crimes and poverty can be reduced, if not completely eliminated, by the Yar’Adua administration at state and federal levels.”

    “The Jonathan administration must put in place agricultural programmes aimed at improving food production with a view of providing what the people will eat for them.

    “Both the federal and state governments must come together to address youth unemployment. These children are our future. And they are equally the future of this nation. Failure to make adequate plans for them is like the nation is sleeping on a keg of gun-powder and preparing for crisis.

    “It is my opinion that of far greater concern to and more impact on the lives of the people is what the governments can do for them in terms of adequate food supply and reduction of poverty.

    “Therefore, engaging more people in agriculture will definitely reduce the high rate of armed robbery and the food crisis across the country. Evidence has shown that as a result of lack of what to eat and what to do, majority of our people have now been exposed to crimes such as kidnapping, cultism, militancy, armed robbery, thuggery and gambling.

    “The Jonathan administration has a unique opportunity to employ millions of Nigerians through agriculture, which does not present itself in other sectors of the economy, including oil and gas.

    “A good example of that is maize, shrimp, pepper and tomato cultivation, snail farming and poultry; hence we are calling on President Jonathan to please assist Nigerians. Any nation that is toying with the future of its citizens and mostly the young ones is playing with war,” he said.

    Addressing over 250 farmers at Ogbomoso recently, Mr Segun Adebayo decried the rate of poverty. He said even though the country is making millions of dollars daily from oil, the nation is still among the poorest in the world. He urged the government to tackle all the major problems confronting the development of agriculture.

    “It is no longer in doubt that our goal for an enduring and virile democratic arrangement on structures cannot be achieved without successfully addressing all the problems confronting agriculture to bring about a considerable improvement in the living standard of our people.

    “And if President Jonathan is sincere, it must have dawned on him that without agriculture/revolution, democracy has a problem of becoming a successful and sustainable phenomenon in this country.

    “Over 70 per cent of the population is living below the poverty level of one dollar per day with the resultant poor quality of life of average Nigerians.

    “Therefore, it is highly essential for the Jonathan administration to recruit more veterinary surgeons to cope with meat inspection and public health activities.administration to address hunger, poverty and unemployment now,” he said.

    Adebayo said the country must earn more foreign revenue through agriculture to boost its economy and provide jobs. This is a special area we want the government to focus its attention.

    “Indonesia earns its biggest yearly revenue from agriculture. But our government has neglected agriculture, hence the reason people are wallowing in abject poverty.

    “The policy thrust of this administration must include emphasis on agriculture and development to consolidate existing initiatives in ensuring food security and export capabilities, particularly cocoa, shrimps and cassava, but we believe the peasant farmers must be the central focus of the government on agriculture, so that more food could be made available to Nigerians and there would be jobs for them to do,” Adebayo said.

  • Govt slammed on lack of assistance to youths

    THE government has been criticised for not involving youths in agriculture by giving them the necessary support, such as land and loans.

    Alhaji Maruf Oyeniyi, Chairman Al-Maroof Farms, spoke in Osogbo, Osun State with The Nation.

    He also criticised the government for paying lip service to agriculture and focusing more on oil price.

    Maruf noted that government “attitude to the youth was discouraging despite the agricultural potential of the country. “Majority of them are jobless, while efforts by aged peasant farmers to turn the agricultural sector around and produce enough food for the people has not yielded the expected result”.

    He pleaded with government officials to build a virile economy through youth involvement in agriculture.

    “There is no better time for government at state and federal levels to build a virile economy through youth involvement in agriculture than now.

    “Empowerment of the youth, especially graduates through agriculture, must be identified as one of the major means through which crimes and poverty can be reduced, if not completely eliminated, by the Yar’Adua administration at state and federal levels.”

    “The Jonathan administration must put in place agricultural programmes aimed at improving food production with a view of providing what the people will eat for them.

    “Both the federal and state governments must come together to address youth unemployment. These children are our future. And they are equally the future of this nation. Failure to make adequate plans for them is like the nation is sleeping on a keg of gun-powder and preparing for crisis.

    “It is my opinion that of far greater concern to and more impact on the lives of the people is what the governments can do for them in terms of adequate food supply and reduction of poverty.

    “Therefore, engaging more people in agriculture will definitely reduce the high rate of armed robbery and the food crisis across the country. Evidence has shown that as a result of lack of what to eat and what to do, majority of our people have now been exposed to crimes such as kidnapping, cultism, militancy, armed robbery, thuggery and gambling.

    “The Jonathan administration has a unique opportunity to employ millions of Nigerians through agriculture, which does not present itself in other sectors of the economy, including oil and gas.

    “A good example of that is maize, shrimp, pepper and tomato cultivation, snail farming and poultry; hence we are calling on President Jonathan to please assist Nigerians. Any nation that is toying with the future of its citizens and mostly the young ones is playing with war,” he said.

    Addressing over 250 farmers at Ogbomoso recently, Mr Segun Adebayo decried the rate of poverty. He said even though the country is making millions of dollars daily from oil, the nation is still among the poorest in the world. He urged the government to tackle all the major problems confronting the development of agriculture.

    “It is no longer in doubt that our goal for an enduring and virile democratic arrangement on structures cannot be achieved without successfully addressing all the problems confronting agriculture to bring about a considerable improvement in the living standard of our people.

    “And if President Jonathan is sincere, it must have dawned on him that without agriculture/revolution, democracy has a problem of becoming a successful and sustainable phenomenon in this country.

    “Over 70 per cent of the population is living below the poverty level of one dollar per day with the resultant poor quality of life of average Nigerians.

    “Therefore, it is highly essential for the Jonathan administration to recruit more veterinary surgeons to cope with meat inspection and public health activities.administration to address hunger, poverty and unemployment now,” he said.

    Adebayo said the country must earn more foreign revenue through agriculture to boost its economy and provide jobs. This is a special area we want the government to focus its attention.

    “Indonesia earns its biggest yearly revenue from agriculture. But our government has neglected agriculture, hence the reason people are wallowing in abject poverty.

    “The policy thrust of this administration must include emphasis on agriculture and development to consolidate existing initiatives in ensuring food security and export capabilities, particularly cocoa, shrimps and cassava, but we believe the peasant farmers must be the central focus of the government on agriculture, so that more food could be made available to Nigerians and there would be jobs for them to do,” Adebayo said.

     

  • ‘Granting farmers loans’ll reduce poverty, unemployment’

    The ‘Egbe Agbe Onigari, Akinle-Ijebu’ has called on the Federal and state governments to reduce poverty and the high rate of unemployment in the country by assisting cassava farmers with soft loans.

    The group said cassava is now a “golden crop,” adding that promoting agriculture could solve the challenge of hunger, poverty, increased social vices and unemployment ravaging the country.

    Speaking at the bi-Annual General Meeting of the association in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, its Chairman, Chief Baderin Parakoyi, said a critical analysis of the economic situation of the country revealed the need for diversification from oil to agriculture.

    The meeting, which has as theme: ‘Way out of the food and unemployment crises in Nigeria,’ was addressed by the Chairman of the Adenle Farms, Alhaji Wasiu Adenle.

    The major reason the government relied on oil money, the University of Lagos graduate turned cassava farmer, said, was the criminal neglect of the agric sector by successive administrations.

    “Cassava is now a ‘golden crop’ across the world, where over 2,000 different products can be extracted. Nigeria is currently the largest producer of cassava in the world with annual production of over 34 million metric tonnes. Yet, there is glut in cassava production in the country mainly because of the absence of adequate processing of the crop into many products,” he said.

    Assisting the farmers, he said, would encourage them to cultivate more, hence there will be increased farm activities, while hunger, poverty and unemployment would be reduced.

    However, Adenle identified paucity of funds and implements as the major problems confronting the farmers.

    He said they were interested in supplying several tonnes of cassava to many of the agro-allied industries in the country, such as Dangote Group, Flour Mills of Nigeria Limited and Okin Biscuits, which they could not do because of insufficient funds.

    At the meeting, the association released a 12-point communiqué on the way forward to boost food production in the country.

    These are: There is an urgent need for inter-agency interaction for expedited information flows, facilitated and desirable synergies; private sector and other stakeholders should build co-operative linkages with farmers to catalyse a paradigm shift built on greater productivity; entrepreneurship and technology infusion into the nation’s farms; government should streamline taxes to encourage agric enterprises through incentives; and the government, in partnership with the private sector should also provide adequate training for farmers to ensure international best practice.

    Others were that CBOS, NGOs and co-operative societies should be used to mobilise and direct agriculture since they are based at the grassroots; government should lease out storage facilities like silos, scattered over the country to farmers on group basis; government should create a fund to finance long gestation agricultural projects and managed through private sector involvement; both the federal, state and local governments must increase budgetary allocation to agriculture by at least 10 per cent initially and 20 per cent subsequently; agricultural loans must be kept at single dignity through strengthening agricultural credit guarantee schemes including incorporating appropriate incentives; priority attention must be given to the provision and rehabilitation of basic infrastructure most especially water, road and power to promote agricultural growth; and that federal, state and local governments must explore investment opportunities in agriculture; and that only politicians with good agricultural policies should be elected.

     

  • How to encourage farmers, by experts

    EXPERTS have called on the government to pay more attention to agriculture to boost income and nutritional needs of the people.

    They suggested building more storage facilities and granting credit facilities to farmers. This, according to the experts, would encourage them.

    To reduce poverty and earn foreign exchange, the Executive Chairman of Adetona Farms, Chief Waheed Adetona, said the government must step in to facilitate access to basic staples.

    He said such intervention should focus on raising farm output, increasing people’s income and facilitating constant supply of food stuffs to the market at affordable prices.

    He told The Nation that the availability of storage facilities in response to increase in farm output, would encourage more Nigerians to go into agriculture, and reduce the poverty level. Some farmers would engage in roots and tubers cultivation if storage facilities are available to keep their harvest, which makes up a large proportion of their income and diet.

    Adetona said: “Root crops contain about two-thirds of their weight as water. This gives two major problems: transportation and perishability. For example, cassava starts to develop a blue or brown discolouration after 24 hours. Within 48 hours, it starts to rot through the action of fungi and bacteria. If there are no storage facilities or central processing unit for cassava, yams and cocoyam, these tubers must be consumed soon after harvest within the producer’s own locality.

    “Distance to urban markets and the poor condition of rural roads, often mean that farmers have to accept poor prices offered by the local traders, hence the need for the construction of storage facilities very close to the farms where the crops are grown.

    “From cassava are staples like gari, fufu, lafun (cassava flour) and tapioca. Beyond their high caloric nature, they have more potential for yield improvement and conversion into a range of convenience products, but this will require research in food technology to design appropriate small-scale equipment for their manufacture.”

    He added: “In Nigeria, most of the population live in the rural areas and practise subsistence farming. Among the main crop grown for home consumption are root crops. Processing root crops into convenience foods will improve their being accepted by the urban population. This will lead to expanded markets and thus encourage the increased production of root crops.”

    Use of processed food based on local products to replace imported food stuffs, he said, would naturally, conserve foreign exchange.

    “During drought, cassava is often the only crop that survives. Unfortunately, root crops only attain special status in time of war, calamity and famine. Yet these are staple crops that farmers are already familiar with. Root crops have high tolerance for the poor soils resulting from reduced fallowing and population pressure on the land and, in the case of cassava, tolerance for periods of drought in encountered in arid areas. Processing of root crops could also provide cottage industry employment for rural people.

    “Cassava, when properly processed as gari, is safe and convenient to eat and may be stored for up to a year. Matured cassava plants can also be left in the round for up to three years. In Nigeria, cassava is usually the last crop in the rotation system, as it will produce reasonable yield on depleted land,” he said.

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Poor infrastructure hinders export growth’

    A DON Dr Nosiru Onibon has identified lack of sufficient infrastructure and skilled labour as the bane of the nation’s agricultural and export growth.

    He spoke at a forum on the need for the country to grow the non- oil export and agro processing facilities in the country.

    The Lagos State University (LASU) lecturer said unavailability of sufficient labour in a single location was responsible for the low value addition to commodity for export.

    According to him, some labourers are not skilled in cashew processing, urged the government and the private sector to train the youth in such areas.

    He said the cost incurred to process raw cashew nuts in Nigeria is higher than that of India.

    He noted that such processing challenges made the cashew business unattractive.

    “There is an urgent need to get many of our crops processed in the country itself thus generating additional foreign exchange and provide large-scale employment for the people,’’ he said.

     

  • UN tasks smallholder farmers on food security

    UN tasks smallholder farmers on food security

    In the United Nations desire to tackle the impending hunger in the developing countries by the year 2050, it has already set machinery in motion to address this.

    At a two-day interface and discussion session in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, participants drawn from six countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda spoke passionately about assistance to smallholder farmers, in terms of policy reforms among others.

    Sponsored by the TrustAfrica in partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the two-day interface was to enlighten the smallholder farmers on the role of agriculture in development and to give voice to those most affected by agricultural development policies.

    During the event Mr Charles Abugre Akelyira, Africa Regional Director of the UN Millennium based in Nairobi impressed the need for government to invest in agriculture among both local and industrial farmers.

    “We must invest in agriculture not just to feed the current generation but to prepare for the two billion more mouths we will need to feed by 2050. In particular, we have to invest in small-scale agriculture, as part of our mixed strategy.”

    The need to improve smallholder farmers skills were further emphasised.

    It would be recalled that the TrustAfrica Agricultural advocacy project which begun in 2010, states that African governments will dedicate 10% of their budgets to pro-poor agricultural policies.

    The aim is to have farmers hold their governments accountable for the budgets they have been promised.

    However, The TrustAfrica Acting Program Director, Dr. Tendai Murisa shared his excitement about the declaration of 2014 as the year of agriculture and food security and also shared his concern about the need for various countries to change their policies on agriculture.

    “We are excited about the fact that the African Union has decided to declare 2014 the year of Agriculture and Food Security. However, we are concerned that African governments have not increased their allocations to agriculture. There is an urgent need to realign the policies and resources of governments so that they can better reflect the already existing consensus in Africa. Agriculture has the potential to be the engine that can drive inclusive growth and development,” he stressed.

  • Kolanut farmers bemoan govt policy

    Kolanut farmers have  identified lack of articulated policy as the bane of agriculture.

    They said even though the sector had suffered neglect following the discovery of oil, the past 14 years were enough to reverse the situation.

    Its Chairman, Chief Kayode Aladejobi, who spoke on behalf of other farmers told The Nation in Ibadan that, with  the return of democracy in 1999, “we should have been able to find our bearing and move forward as a nation in terms of our agricultural development. But it seems most of those in government are not interested in the sector.”

    He noted that there had been initiatives, plans and programmes which were implemented. “Governors, ministers and regimes came with policies and programmes in agriculture aimed at achieving personal interest and that is why the country is still facing food security problem,” he said.

    He expressed dissatisfaction that ‘high profile’ farmers were the main beneficiaries of most agricultural programmes of the past administration, noting that rural farmers were neglected.

    “It is unfortunate that most of the programmes put in place in the past eight to nine years just benefited high profile farmers and not the intended rural farmers who provide the food we eat in the country,” he said.

    To reverse the trend, he called for adequate funding of the sector.

    Ibidapo said: “The inadequate funding by the government cannot reflect the yearnings and aspirations of rural farmers. The funding was made just to benefit a few farmers.”

    Another farmer, Mr Adedayo Onalaja noted that the 2013 budget for agriculture fell short of the 10 per cent recommended by the United Nations (UN) even though the seven per cent allocation was the highest so far.

    “So, if we truly want to get to the Promised Land in terms of adequate food production, I don’t think that this type of allocation can take us anywhere,” Onalaja stressed.

    He urged President Jonathan to evolve a comprehensive food security policy which would be discussed by stakeholders, with a view to arriving at a road map for the sector.

    “Food security is not a matter of documentation but a matter of initiatives complemented by fund allocation and serious action.

    “All that Nigerians are looking forward to is that whatever policies and programmes of the government must translate to food on their table,” he said.

    Agriculture is a policy-based sector and measures must be taken in phases – immediate, short-term and long-term in order to provide adequate food for the country,” he said.

    According to him, a country that is not food-sufficient cannot grow economically, adding that Nigeria was confronted by this ‘dangerous’ situation.

  • Farmers seek lower feed costs

    The major obstacle to the establishment of an aquaculture industry is the lack of local, high-quality fish feed. Availability of locally sourced, low-cost feed will be a major step towards improving profitability of small aquaculture enterprises. This is the concern of the government and private fish farmers. Daniel Essiet reports.

    Along the shores of Lagos, fish farmers are losing because of the decline in fish stocks.

    These days, local fishermen are lucky if they net so much like in the past. Thus, the economic incentive for keeping a healthy fishery is strong. Fishermen and trawlers have overfished.

    To assist the fishermen, the state government is supporting entry into aquaculture to reduce pressures on the lagoon while promising them a more stable income source.

    For this reason, the state government looks to aquaculture as a viable enterprise for local farmers, to provide their families with much needed protein and also earn income from the fish they sell at the market. But investigation revealed that the major obstacle blocking growth of aquaculture is the high cost of fish feeds, particularly feeds with high protein component.

    For most farmers, feeds consists of rice and maize bran, kitchen leftovers, and garden remains are low in protein and other essential nutrients, these plant-based feeds are insufficient for promoting rapid growth of marketable fish. But, higher quality commercial feeds formulated with fishmeal or soybean meal, the farmers said, are in short supply and is too expensive for the average farmer. Also, producing fishmeal from wild-caught and other fish raises significant environmental and food security issues.

    Speaking in Lagos, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, said fish and fisheries play a significant role in the economy in terms of nutrition, income, employment and foreign exchange earnings.

    He, however, finds the affordability of nutritious feeds to be a major hindrance to the development of the aquaculture industry.

    To this end, he said the government was ready to partner with the private sector to develop an affordable feed formulation. The goal is a nutritious, protein-balanced diet that farmers can afford.

    Most of these conventional and non-conventional ingredients are abundantly available but not at an affordable price for making good quality fish feeds.

    Feed ingredients of animal origin, such as fish meal, are used as sources of animal protein in aquafeeds. Others, including poultry by-products, slaughterhouse wastes, blood meal, bone meal, etc., have been evaluated for their possible use. Even in small amounts, they may greatly improve the nutritional value of the entire diet.

    Fish require a top-quality, nutritionally complete and balanced diet to grow rapidly and remain healthy. Local feed production is critical to the overall success and sustainability of an aquaculture industry.

    To this end, the Lagos State Commercial Agriculture Development Project(CADP) said the feed industry has profited from the rural energy support under the project, through the supply and installation of transformers, low and tension wires in farm lands and clusters to help production and increase profits.

    The project manager said within the short debut of the project, some very positive results have been realised, such as a 37 per cent decrease in the floating fish feed prices through the support provided to farmers to help them to produce the feed locally.

    With the running of a feed extruding machine of 150 kg per hour capacity, CADP is geared to give fish farmers a good deal.

    The floating fish feed is the result of applying the appropriate technology in its production, a breakthrough in its own respect in local feed production nationwide.

    Until recently, they were producing feed using locally fabricated pelletisers with production capacity of about one tonne per day.

    As part of the effort of the private sector, Akin-Sateru Farms inaugurated their floating fish feed extrusion plant in Lagos. The floating fish feed production plant has the capacity to produce 12 tonnes of extruded floating fish feed, and the mill will supplying local farmers who up until now had to rely on importing extruded fish feed into the country.

    Speaking on the new plant at the event, Chairman of Akin-Sateru Farms, Oba Adetunji Akinloye, said the new feed plant would help to reduce one of the biggest burdens on fish farmers – the high cost of imported feeds – and encourage more companies to invest in the sub-sector.

    “It is on record that Nigeria still spends about N80 billion per annum on fish import into the country,” he said.

  • CBARDP spends N3.2b on projects

    CBARDP spends N3.2b on projects

    The Community-Based Agricultural and Rural Development Project (CBARDP) has spent N3.2 billion on agricultural projects in five states, according to the Project Coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Arabi.

    He said in Bauchi that the projects were located in Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Kaduna and Kwara.

    CBARDP is the African Development Bank (AfDB)-assisted programme.

    The Coordinator said the beneficiary farmers were drawn from 45 local government areas and 135 rural villages in the participating states.

    He said the AfDB contributed N2.88 billion and the Federal Government N155 million while the five participating states provided N168 million as counterpart funds.

    Similarly, the 45 benefitting local government areas contributed N50 million as counterpart funds.

    Arabi said the fund was spent on crops and livestock production and infrastructure development and capacity building.

    The fund, he added, was also used to buy operational vehicles and equipment, pay allowances and other miscellaneous expenses.

    The coordinator described CBARDP as an integrated agricultural and rural development project designed to improve the livelihood and living conditions of the rural poor.

    According to him, the programme targetted women and other vulnerable groups as beneficiaries.

    Arabi said the project was in line with the Federal Government’s agricultural transformation agenda (ATA).

    ATA, he explained, aimed at supporting farmers by enhancing access to credit facilities, inputs, new agricultural techniques and processing facilities.

    “The objective is to contribute to food security through increased crop and livestock productivity, improve farmers’ income and ensure better living condition of the rural poor.

    “Under the programme, 270,000 farm families were exposed to current agricultural technologies and how to adopt best practises that enhanced high yields.

    “They were also trained on entrepreneurship and skills acquisition, to provide them with means of livelihood,”he added.

    The coordinator also said that N1.08 billion was spent on construction of 270 km rural roads and drilling of 150 boreholes.

    “Each of the participating states had 54kms of roads and 30 boreholes provided under the programme.

    “These roads have enhanced evacuation of farm produce from remote villages, while the boreholes have helped to improve the hygiene of the rural dwellers.

    The Coordinator also said N99 million was spent on crop production development outreach while another N63 million was spent on livestock production outreach.