Anambra Government has urged the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) to prioritise land development in the programme’s work plan for 2019.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanisation, Processing and Export, Mr Afam Mbanefo made the call on Wednesday while receiving a delegation from the sixth FGN/IFAD-VCDP Supervision Mission in his office in Awka.

“We want you to engage more on land development to help the state increase farmers’ participation and utilisation.

“Land need is growing on daily basis to meet government’s target. Our goal is to encourage more agricultural mechanisation, especially during the dry season farming,” the commissioner said.

Mbanefo, who praised the impact of IFAD-VCDP on rice and cassava value chain in the state, assured the group that the state government would continue to support and commit funds to VCDP activities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the supervision team led by Prof. Benjamin Okpukpara was in the state to evaluate the implementation process of the programme.

In his remarks, Okpukpara rated the state as the best in the country, attributing the progress to the passion of Gov. Willie Obiano in the agricultural sector.

“IFAD-VCDP works more in Anambra than other states of the federation. Based on the strong institution the programme has established, farmers can comfortably stand on their own when it winds up,” he said.

The State Programme Coordinator, IFAD-VCDP, Mr Nnamdi Agwuncha, appealed for additional funds for the project.

According to him, there are still more to be done in the areas of land development and rural roads to facilitate mechanisation.

NAN reports that the team which later proceeded on field visits, inspected the market infrastructure constructed for IFAD-VCDP Igbariam Cassava Cluster and a Demonstration and Farmer Field Business School.

The team also visited a cassava farm at Agu-okwe, Mgbakwu in Awka North Local Government Area and the Youth Entrepreneurial Centre, Omogho in Orumba North Local Government Area.

They also inspected different types of products made from pro-vitamin “A” cassava by the women entrepreneurs.

While fielding questions, Mr Benjamin Onyebuchi, the Chairman of Mee-ngwa-ngwa Multipurpose Cooperative Society, noted that IFAD-VCDP had exposed them to best agronomic practices in cassava farming.

“We now harvest between 30 tons and 35 tons per hectare of cassava as against 10 tons that we used to harvest before VCDP came in 2015.

“We were trained on secrets of high yield. IFAD-VCDP has launched us on the part of commercial farming,’’ he said. (NAN)

– Nov. 21, 2018 @ 18:55 GMT |