The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FADAMA

  • FADAMA distributes N72m rice processing equipment to groups in Niger

    The Niger State FADAMA Coordination Office has distributed rice processing equipments worth N72m to 24 processing groups across the state.

    This is just as N3m worth of farm inputs were distributed to farmers for the 2017 wet season farming.

    The rice processing equipments include, milling machine, false bottom pot per-boiler, destoner, thresher and winnower.

    The state FADAMA Project Coordinator, Engineer Aliyu Usman Kutigi, while launching the equipments for distribution in Minna, said that out of the 24 processing groups, 12 groups are made up of women while the other 12 groups are made up of youths.

    He said a group will be given a set of the processing equipments, which includes a miller, per-boiler, destoner, thresher and winnower; adding that each set costs N3m.

    Kutugi added that the processing equipments will aid fast production of rice in the state and ensure its availability in the market. In the same vein, farmers across the state have gotten N3m worth of farm inputs for the 2017 dry season farming.

    The farm inputs include pesticides, herbicides, rice seedlings and protective garments, such as hand-gloves, face masks and overall.

    At the launching of the 2017 wet season farming at Kuchita Village in Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State, the state coordinator said 5,000 hectares of two crop value chains, rice and sorghum is being targeted to be cultivated across the state in the 2017 wet season farming.

    He said that is the reason why the farmers are being supported with production resources and technical support.

  • Bello hailed for settling FADAMA backlog

    Bello hailed for settling FADAMA backlog

    Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello has been hailed for settling the over N55 million FADAMA owed by the last administration of Governor Idris Wada.
    Coordinator of the Kogi State Project (SPC), Mr. Paul Ogunmola, gave the praise at the opening of a two-day media visit to the FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) sub-project sites. He explained that Bello also settled the 2016 counterpart funding, which qualified Kogi for the final slate, before any possible review and extension of the programme by the World Bank.
    “We appreciate Governor Yahaya Bello for paying the backlog of counterpart funding, which was last paid in 2014, and has continued to do so with over N55 million yearly,” Ogunmola noted.

  • FADAMA rates Niger best in rice production

    FADAMA rates Niger best in rice production

    • Community Signs $250M rice contract

    The Niger State Fadama Coordinator, Engineer Aliyu Usman Kutigi, has said that the state produces more rice than Kebbi State, rating it top in rice production in the country.

    According to him, the state produced over 25,000 tonnes of rice during the 2016 wet season farming, which is twice what Kebbi State produced.

    Speaking to newsmen yesterday at his office, Kutigi said 15 local government areas in the state are into rice production in the Fadama 111 Additional Financing Project.

    “I can say authoritatively that Niger State produces more rice than Kebbi State. We work on both quality and quantity. The yield has increased due to the intervention of Fadama in rice farming in the state. Even the World Bank refers to Niger State as the pacesetter in rice farming in the state.”

    The Fadama Coordinator said that Fadama have intervened in giving improved seeds, fertilizers, agro-chemicals and technology to farmers in the state.

    He said that currently, the state Fadama office has expended N329 million on the construction of road network at Badeggi, Egbanti in Katcha Local Government to ease the movement of goods for farmers.

    In a related development, the Loguma Community in Agaie Local Government Area of the state has signed a $250 million contract with Uzza Rice Mill in Kano State.

    According to the contract, the farmers in the community who are mostly rice farmers, will send over their rice yields to the rice mill for processing.

    Disclosing this to AgriBusiness, the Loguma Cluster Chairman, John Ndagi said the contract would improve the lot of farmers in the community and give an awakening to rice farming in the state.

    “Because of Fadama intervention, the harvest last year was wonderful. We have signed a $250 dollar contract with Uzza Rice Mill in Kano. Fadama have helped the rice farmers in the community to widen their scope and improve their economic base.”

    Ndagi said that the rehabilitation of the irrigation scheme has helped a lot in the cultivation, adding that 140 hectares of rice farm is covered by the irrigation scheme.

  • Anambra hails FADAMA

    The Anambra State government has hailed the World Bank-assisted FADAMA project, saying it will lift agriculture to higher heights.

    The state FADAMA III coordinating office organised a workshop for media practitioners to sensitise them on the importance of informing the public about the advantages of the project.

    The Anambra State Commissioner of Agriculture, Mechanisation, Processing and Export, Afam Mbanefo explained that FADAMA III which is a World Bank, federal government programme runs in partnership with the state government.

    He said the programme has executed numerous projects including construction of feeder roads, irrigation, training and empowerment of farmers to adapt to mechanised agriculture.

    Mbanefo, was represented by a permanent secretary in the ministry, Lady Ngozi Onu, who lamented that these projects were often underreported, while appealing for media support to make them known.

    This, according to her, would help the rural dwellers to invest at home, thereby reducing rural to urban migration.

    On his part, the Anambra State Fadama III Additional Financing (AF) Project Coordinator, Egbue Chukwuka Patrick, while presenting the project overview, successes and challenges, revealed that their targets have been eight local government areas.

    These council areas as he mentioned are Anambra East and West, Ayamelum, Ogbaru, Ihiala, Orumba North and South, and Awka North.

    Egbue said the World Bank had sent them appreciation letters for fulfilling their projects.

    The partnership with state government he said, had blossomed on rice, cassava and tomatoes productions, improvement of farmers’ livelihood and incomes, provision of irrigation, training and empowerment of farmers on agronomical practices.

    He said that these FADAMA III focus had metamorphosed to improved food security, food sufficiency and exportation, which were in tandem to Governor Willie Obiano’s four pillars of economic development.

    “We have over 78 youths and numerous organizations registered. We have trained people on business plan, capacity building and technology transfer”

    “This brings out streamlined sales in food produce like Anambra rice. We are also constructing 13 feeder roads across 4 local government areas at cost of N351, 968, 329.80”

    “We are working on irrigation at the cost of N97, 553, 835.18. In the year that ended, we hired agricultural equipment at N10, 431, 950.00.  This year, the state government FADAMA III estimate is N56, 355, 296.00” he said.

  • Fadama makes case for more beneficiaries in Anambra

    Fadama makes case for more beneficiaries in Anambra

    The National Project Coordinator of Fadama lll AF, Tayo Adewunmi, has advised the Anambra State Fadama Coordinating Office to step up disbursement of funds to farmers.
    Adewunmi spoke during a one-day stakeholders meeting in Awka, the state capital.
    He advised community leaders to show more commitment to enable the contractors deliver effectively.
    He lauded the achievements of the state government in agricultural production and processing, especially in vegetables export.
    Anambra State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanisation, Processing and Export Afam Mbanefo promised that Anambra State will step up agricultural activities in the next three months.
    He commended the National Fadama Coordination Office for its kind gesture and trust in Anambra State.
    Mbanefo hailed contractors for returning to sites and urged them to step up the early completion of all roads and irrigation facilities before the end of March.
    He said the country would benefit a lot if all concerned remained dedicated to the FADAMA ideals.
    Other at the meeting included the SSA to the Governor on Agric., Engraved. Mike Ogbuekwe, the SSA and the SA on Fadama, Dr. Joe Okonkwo and Mr. Obinna Efobi, respectively, as well as traditional

    From the right is the National Project Coordination, Fadama III Project Additional Financing, Mr. Tayo Adewunmi during a visit to Anambra State Fadama Coordinating Office. By his right is the Commissioner for Agric. Mr. Afam Mbanefo followed by the SSA on Fadama. Next to him is the State Project Coordinator, Mr. Patrick Egbueh and by his left is the Rural Institutional Development Specialist, Mr. T.O Arokoye

    Chris Obinabo
    Communication Officer

  • Lagos praised over Fadama project

    Lagos praised over Fadama project

    The World Bank has commended the Lagos State government for the outstanding implementation of Fadama agricultural project.

    Leader of the global bank’s task team, Dr Adetunji Oredipe, gave the commendation in Lagos during a three-day 6th World Bank/FGN Application Implementation Mission to Lagos.

    He said:  “It is usual for us to come around twice a year to review progress made, make suggestions on the way forward, resolve issues affecting the project and see how well the beneficiaries of the projects are doing.

    “I want to say that coming down to Lagos, we realized that a number of successes has been recorded in terms of infrastructure development, direct support to farmers, capacity building and management of advisory services which has helped farmers to improve in their operations and we are pleased with what we have seen so far in Lagos.

    “What we met on the ground is a lot of improvement from what we saw during our 5th mission to the state. During our last mission, we had the opportunity of visiting the deputy governor of the state, who assured us that the state government would fulfil its financial obligation to the project, and we are happy to say that the state government has since fulfilled its promise by paying the counterpart funds.”

  • World Bank lauds Lagos over FADAMA project

    The World Bank has given the Lagos State Government a pass mark for sustaining the FADAMA agricultural project in the state.

    The commendation came during a visit by the Federal Government/World Bank fifth technical mission to the State Coordinating Office of FADAMA project in Oko Oba.

    The Head of the mission and Task Team Leader, Dr.Adetunji Oredipe, said the state government deserved to be praised for its commitment to the success of the project in the state.

    He said the state occupies strategic place in the project in Nigeria because of several initiatives that has boosted agricultural produce and as a corridor for the movement of goods on land, sea and air.

    Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Permanent Secretary Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya said: ”The FADAMA project is a poverty reduction initiative because it has empowered a lot of farmers in Lagos State and transformed them from subsistence level to commercial farmers. Fishermen in riverine areas of Ibeju Lekki, Lagos Island among others can now boast of improved standard of living through the project, hence, the state government would continue to encourage its sustenance.

    The state coordinator of the project, Mr Folu Ajijola, said: “The project has improved since the last World Bank mission to the state because our production cluster has increased by 25 per cent. Equally, the number of farmers has doubled and a lot of capacity building for farmers and stakeholders has taken place.”

  • FADAMA: World Bank disburses $39m to farmers

    The World Bank has so far disbursed a sum of $39m on the Third National Fadama Development Project Additional Financing (AF) as part of concerted efforts to support Nigeria’s agriculture and revenue diversification drive of the Federal Government

    The Bank, in statement by its Task Team Leader, Dr. Adetunji Oredipe, said it commenced its Fadama Implementation Support Mission at the weekend  across eight states in conjunction with the Federal Ministries of Finance and Agriculture.

    The Board of the Bank had approved additional IDA credit of USD 200 million on June 28, 2014 to assist the Federal Government of Nigeria to scale up impacts on the ground and strengthen the development effectiveness of the Third National Fadama Development Project by aligning it more closely with the Government agricultural programs.

    The additional financing is supporting clusters of farmers in six selected states with comparative advantage and high potential to increase production and productivity of cassava, rice, and sorghum and horticulture value chains and link them to better organized markets.

    As at the last mission in January 2016, 930 business plans have been prepared across the states, out of which 424 business plans were approved and disbursed. These business plans covered Five Thousand and Eighty-Eight (5,088) hectares of farms across the four value chains across the core and production cluster States.

    Also, harvesting of rice cultivated during the rainy season has been completed in Kano, Lagos, Niger and Enugu States while cassava has been harvested in Kogi State. In addition, the first Micro-Finance Bank established through savings mobilized by Fadama Farmers Community Association (FFCA) in Plateau State has been completed and received provisional and operational license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for take-off while construction/rehabilitation of the Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHE) centers were on-going in all the core States except in Lagos and Enugu where lack of counterpart funds have delayed commencement.

    The overall objective of the mission is to assess implementation progress of the project by reviewing all project components to accelerate disbursements and focus on results monitoring and reporting.

    The mission will be led by Dr. Adetunji Oredipe, Task Team Leader (TTL), and will comprise the National FADAMA Coordinator, Dr. Tayo Adewunmi, and other specialists from the World Bank, officials of Federal Ministry of Finance, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and staff of the National and State Project offices, including representatives of NGOs.

  • FADAMA III AF enhances farmers in Niger

    The FADAMA III Additional Financing, a collaborative project of the World Bank,  Federal and State Governments has been of immense benefits to farmers in Niger State.

    Speaking with newsmen in Minna,   the Niger State Coordinator for FADAMA III AF, Engineer Aliyu Usman Kutugi, said the project has “greatly enhanced the capacities of farmers, increased their income, boosted the economy and made life more worthy of living”.

    Niger State is presently cultivating 371, 482 hectares of  rice, mostly under the production season of rainfed. Under the FADAMA III AF, 2,635 rice farmers with 7,100 ha land holding has been registered, 100 business plans for ten production clusters were reviewed out of which 49 were approved and currently being implemented. Also, 10 facilitators and 1000  farmers rice farmers have been trained, while awareness have been created for agro dealers, cultivation of 120 ha nursery beds by five production clusters.

    Engineer Kutugi, while informing that 20 tones of improved rice seeds (Faro 44) has been procured and distributed to rice farmers along with 480 litres of herbicides from certified agro dealers, also thanked the Niger State Government and  the National FADAMA Team led by Mr. Tayo Adewunmi for “their continued support and cooperation, without which the FADAMA III AF would not have been implemented.”

    Niger State has implemented six World Bank/FG assisted projects under the agricultural sector namely Bida Agricultural Development Project, Multi-State Agricultural Development Project, National Agricultural Technology Support Project, FADAMA II and III, and presently implementing FADAMA III AF, which have helped to developed farmers-managed irrigation schemes of 400 hectares and formal irrigation schemes of 1,500 hact.

  • Lagos farmers seek N50m to set up microfinance bank

    Lagos farmers seek N50m to set up microfinance bank

    Fadama III farmers in Lagos are   raising  N50million to establish a microfinance bank, President, Lagos State Apex Fadama Community Association, Alhaji Mufutau Abiodun Oyelekan,  has said.

    The state government is expected to support  the farmers with N25 million.

    Oyelekan  made this known at a workshop on the proposed bank in Lagos.

    According to him, the measure is aimed at sustaining the Fadama III project after it is rounded off in the state.

    With the bank, he said Fadama farmers would get soft loans cheap interest rates.

    He said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Lagos Government were expected to give them the nod to operate the microfinance bank.

    He expressed optimism that the bank will commence operation within the next six months as necessary arrangements had almost been concluded.

    The Permanent Secretary,Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Dr. Olajide Bashorun,   lauded the initiative, adding that   it would fill the vacuum,  which will be created as a result of the Fadama  project coming to and end.

    Speaking through the Director, Agric Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya, Bashorun  said the effect of the development would be adequate financial empowerment of the farmers to improve and increase food production.

    State Project Coordinator of Fadama 111,  Foluso Ajijola, said the bank  will   provide  affordable financial services to  farmers.

    Like commercial banks, he said the microfinance institutions will  be  independent and provide loans to small entrepreneurs.

    He said the directors  would be  chosen from the association.