FG, IFAD EMPOWER KOGI FARMERS, PWDs WITH AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT, START-UP TOOLS
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By; Sunmola Ganiyat
The Federal Government, in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has distributed agricultural equipment to farmers and provided start-up packages to 33 Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in Kogi State.
The intervention, implemented through the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), was carried out on Monday in Lokoja as part of efforts to promote inclusive development, improve livelihoods and strengthen agricultural value chains.
The distribution benefited farmers involved in production, processing and marketing, as well as women across Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Ibaji, Olamaboro and Kabba-Bunu Local Government Areas.
Speaking on behalf of the Kogi State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Timothy Ojomah, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Moses Dare, said the intervention demonstrated the government’s commitment to inclusive development.
Dare urged the beneficiaries to make productive use of the equipment and embrace cooperative structures to maximise the benefits of the programme.
The State Project Coordinator of IFAD-VCDP, Dr Stella Adejoh, said the programme was guided by the principle that disability should not prevent people from becoming economically self-reliant.
She explained that while participating farmers contributed 30 per cent of the cost of the equipment, the support provided to the PWD beneficiaries was free.
The PWD beneficiaries received items including bags of rice, tables, chairs, bowls and Point-of-Sale terminals. Adejoh said they had previously undergone training on how to use the equipment to establish and manage small businesses.
About 300 farmers also received agricultural equipment such as knapsack sprayers, solar-powered pumping machines, threshers, wheelbarrows and shovels.
In addition, 350 women were provided with energy-efficient cooking stoves connected to briquetting machines designed to convert rice husks and other agricultural waste into clean cooking fuel.
Adejoh said the VCDP had profiled 7,575 farmers across the five local government areas and had so far supported about 5,600 farmers along the cassava and rice value chains.
She commended Kogi State Governor Ahmed Ododo for the prompt payment of counterpart funds and acknowledged the state Ministry of Agriculture for its support.
The intervention is aimed at improving agricultural productivity, reducing post-harvest losses, strengthening farmers’ livelihoods and contributing to food security in Kogi State.
Some beneficiaries, including Yakubu Mohammed from Olamaboro, Glory Omale from Ibaji and Latifat Babatunde from Ajaokuta, expressed appreciation to the VCDP, IFAD and the state government for the support.
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