news

STAKEHOLDERS in the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) project in Kano State have commended efforts of the project in agricultural implementation.

The stakeholders gave the commendation during the Federal Government/World Bank Ninth implementation support mission to weigh the performance of farmers held in Kano on Thursday.

Addressing the stakeholders, the National Project Coordinator of APPEALS, Muhammed Sani, said the implementation support mission was to review progress of activities across different states.

He said that the main objective of the support mission is to assess project overall implementation status towards the project’s closing date of September 30, 2023, and update agreed time bound action plan for the project closure.

“This will provide opportunities to measure achievements in Cross River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi and Lagos, who are the participating states.

“We started from Enugu to Lagos, and here we are now in Kano to assess the level of implementation support,” he said.

Sani stated further that the ninth implementation support mission and the project will end by September 2023.

He added that participants were drawn from the six states to discuss issues that are affecting the project.

“Here in Kano, we try to syndicate groups that will discuss critical issues that concern the upliftment of the project, with a view to achieving ownership and sustainability after the world bank closing date.

On his part, Hassan Ibrahim, the Kano State Programme Coordinator, said the team will review performance of project and provide technical guidance to meet its target.

He said the programme has succeeded in enhancing the livelihoods of farmers and productivity which promote economic and agricultural development in the state.

“The project has impacted the lives of farmers, especially rice, tomatoes and wheat farmers.

“Now, we are at the stage of establishing sustainability measures to ensure that the results the project recorded is scaled up in the state.

“The Kano state government has constructed roads leading to Zarewa, Ajingi and Kwanar Dawaki market to provide transportation of agricultural products in the state,” he said.

Ibrahim explained further that they had supported 1,700 farmers with start up grants in grain enterprise to provide jobs for youths and women in the state and also contribute to economic development of the state.

NAN reports that APPEALS project has 11 priority value chains, including Aquaculture, Cashew, Cassava, Cocoa, Diary, Tomato, Ginger, Maize, Poultry, Rice and Wheat. (NAN)

KN

Tags: