General News
NASARAWA State Government has promised to sustain the achievements of the Federal Government, International Fund for Agricultural Development – Value Chain Development Programme (FG/IFAD-VCDP) when the programme ends.
Gov. Abdullahi Sule gave the assurance when the joint FG/IFAD Implementation Support Mission paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday in Lafia as part of their two-day visit to the state.
He expressed gratitute to the Federal Government and IFAD for the inclusion of Nasarawa State in the programme, adding that the impact on the lives of the rural poor and vulnerable had been enormous.
According to the governor, he has monitored the programme closely and the success stories of some of the beneficiaries are justification for the investment in terms of counterpart funding.
“The most exciting thing for me is that we have been able to touch their lives,” he said.
He expressed satisfaction with the intervention in the cassava and rice value chain, saying Nasarawa State had comparative advantage in both crops.
The governor, therefore, promised that the state government would sustain the gains of the intervention when it wings up, given its impact on the lives of the rural poor, especially women and youths.
Earlier, leader of the team, Dr Samuel Eremie, told the governor that the mission was in the state to evaluate the implementation progress of the programme with a view to making it better.
He explained that the VCDP intervention focused on empowering poor rural smallholder farmers, producers, processors and markets in the Cassava and rice value chain.
Eremie thanked the state governor for paying N176 million counterpart fund for 2019/2020 and same amount for 2021/2022.
He assured the governor that the investment was worth it, given the impact of the programme.
He revealed that a particular case of a physically challenged woman who was able to build her house, went to school and expanded her cassava business from proceeds of the programme.
“This is a pointer to what Nasarawa State can achieve with minimal support to the external support from FG,IFAD, ” he said.
Eremie said that the project had reached about 2,000 beneficiaries in the state and the target was to reach 9,000 beneficiaries.
He, therefore, called for more support from the state government to ramp up efforts in order to meet the target.
” If you can touch the lives of more rural people in Nasarawa, you will have no business talking about hunger or poverty in the state,” Eremie added. (NAN)
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Tags: GOV. Abdullahi Sule Samuel Eremie
