The Anambra state government will by end of June, this year, develop Anambra state Agro-farm market in major cities across the country, starting with the Anambra.

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 their farmers in Awka.

The knowledge sharing workshop which attracted rice and cassava farmers from various participating council areas of the state, climaxed with the inspection of the exhibition stand displaying various value addition along rice and cassava value chains.

Mr. Mbanefo announced that the Ministry is working closely with NAFDAC, SON and other regulatory agencies for global acceptability of Anambra state agricultural produce.

Describing the workshop as one that is geared towards enhancing Agric productivity, Mr. Mbanefo also unveiled that they are presently networking processors and fabricators since according to him the value chain in rice and cassava farming are enormous.

The State Programme Coordinator, FGN/IFAD VCDP, Mr. Nnamdi Agwuncha announced that the agency’s seventh mission will arrive in the state today, the sixteenth of April, 2019.

He said they will assess the state’s level of implementation, address some challenges, give correction where necessary and as well see some implemented sustainability measures.

Mr. Agwuncha urged Commodity Agricultural Forum, CAF, to come up with value chain financing.

He identified over dependency on grant by farmers who according to him find it very difficult to combine with their own counterpart, as one of the programme’s major challenge.
On ways of enhancing agricultural productivity, a Senior Standard Officer Two, Standard Organizations of Nigeria, SON, Mr. Monday Mbam identified constructive Agric education, good land reforms, irrigation facilities, transportation and others as ways of achieving enhanced agricultural activities.

Speaking on the “Benefits of youths and women engagement in Agriculture”, one of the major beneficiaries of the FGN/IFAD VCDP programmes, Mrs. Ngozi Ebue from Omor Ayamelum local government area, said her farming became interesting when she started receiving improved income .

Mrs. Ebue was recently sponsored to US training, because of her breakthrough in rice production, after her training at International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Ibadan.