The state government will on Monday fifteenth April 2019 take delivery of farm inputs from National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA to cushion the effect of last year’s flood on farmers.
The commissioner for Agriculture, Mechanization, Processing and Export, Mr Afam Mbanefo announced this during stakeholder’s workshop on knowledge sharing, organised by the state coordination office of FGN/IFAD VCDP for its farmers, off takers, Agro dealers and regulatory
agencies at ADP hall in Awka.
Disbursement to farmers will commence in one or two weeks time.
While explaining that they have keyed into various programmes like the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme, NIRSAL, Bank of Agriculture, FGN/IFAD VCDP, FADAMA, ATASP-1 and many others to recover what they lost to flood last year, Mr Mbanefo noted that the Ministry has already profiled over three thousand farmers at various locations for NIRSAL.
He however added that every activity in the Ministry is geared towards the official launch of the 2019 rain fed farming season.
While listing the achievements already recorded , the State Programme Coordinator, FGN/IFAD VCDP, Mr Nnamdi Agwuncha said they have keyed farmers into using certified seeds instead of grains, increased the participation of women and youths involvement in agriculture among numerous other achievement.
Mr Agwuncha however announced that the state Agricultural dealers have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state Commodity Agricultural Forum, CAF, to assist farmers in offsetting thirty percent out of their fifty percent input grant.
Speaking on market linkages and the impact of CAF, the State manager of NAIC, Mr. Andrew Uzoma who spoke through one of the marketers, Mr. Richard Ashinze while urging them to always insure their farms, noted that out of the over two hundred million naira indemnity owed state
farmers that lost their farms to last year’s flood, they only have eight point nine million naira outstanding, assuring that in few weeks time it will be cleared.
The stakeholder’s knowledge sharing workshop climaxed with the inspection of the exhibition stand displaying various value addition along rice and cassava value chains.
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