FG- AFDB inject $174.85m for farmers’ training says Dr. Arabi

The new National Coordinator, Agricultural Transformation Agenda Programme (ATAPS-Project 1) Dr. Ibrahim Mohammed Arabi has said that seven strategically farming states of the federation comprising of 33 local governments and  200 rural communities  are currently benefiting in the $174.85m meant for capacity building for best agronomic practice with improved technologies to mitigate poverty in the country.

Dr. Arabi in a familiar talk with journalists at his office in Abuja said that the Federal Government (FG) and African Development Bank (AFDB) were the co- sponsors of the $174.85m project that is aimed to eradicate poverty through best agronomics practices for job and wealth creation especially in the domiciled areas of the project.

 ‘’The seven states currently benefiting from the project across the country includes Anambra, Enugu, Niger, Kano, jigawa, Kebbi and Sokoto, and four staple crop processing zones (SCPZs) of Adani-Omor , Bida-Badeggi , Kano-jigawa, Kebbi-Sokoto and  the primary goal of the project is to reduce poverty and increase job creation in the sector especially in the areas of the project implementation’’ said the coordinator.

He continued that ‘’ African Development Bank (AFDB) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development developed the ATASP-1, adopting a holistic approach to tackling the challenges confronting agriculture in Nigeria. The both partners have funded the programme to the tune of $174.85m including grant facility and the ATASP-1, which is a five-year programme that was later extended for two years becomes operative in February 2015 although it was inaugurated in March 2015’’

He  pointed that capacity training of women and youths farmers along the three value chains of rice, cassava and sorghum with provision of feeder roads and irrigations facility for round the year planting would be used to achieve ATASP-1’s goal stressed that the outreach program implementation would be done by the IITA in partnership with AfricaRice and ICRISAT so as to ensure enhanced productivity  of the targeted commodities.

 The coordinator further said that some of the program beneficiaries who have adopted the technologies promoted by ATAPS-1have been able to acquire additional assets through enhancement of income, saying that the program intervention in the areas under cultivation of the three commodities have increased from 68,000 Ha target to 73,506.71 Ha.

Arabi however pleaded for prompt payment of counterpard funding of the project by the stakeholders so as to be able to accomplish many other pending issues and also to train about 40,000 youths before the programme run out in 2020.