Sule inaugurates programme, pays N176m counterpart fund

Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has inaugurated the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), initiated to improve cassava and rice value chain for small farmers in the state.

The VCDP was initiated by the Federal Government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Speaking at the inauguration of some completed projects by VCDP on Wednesday in Wamba Local Government Area, the governor commended the Federal Government and IFAD for the laudable initiative.

Sule said he believed that the programme was capable of reducing poverty, ensuring food security as well as increase income of small-scale farmers.

He added that the programme would also enhance processing and marketing of rice and cassava, as well as promotion of accelerated economic growth on sustainable basis.

The governor further explained that the state had since keyed into the VCDP and provided the necessary resources to ensure its smooth take off.

“Nasarawa State Government had keyed into the VCDP on July 1, 2020 and subsequently released N176 million as counterpart funds for projects implementation for two years,” he added.

He reiterated that the state government under his stewardship would continue to align with policies of the Federal Government with the view to providing the desired development to the people.

“For this reason, we have attracted investors like Olam Nig. Ltd, Dangote Group, Azman Rice, Flour Mill, among others to the state towards acceleration of economic growth and development,” he added.

The governor therefore, appealed to spirited individuals and groups to synergize with government on critical areas of human development, such as healthcare delivery, educational services, agricultural development, among others.

Earlier, Dr Eunice Adgidzi, Nasarawa State Coordinator of VCDP, said the programme completed multi-million naira projects across five LGAs in the state within nine months of implementation.

She listed the five LGAs that were currently benefiting from the programme to include, Lafia, Doma, Wamba, Karu and Nasarawa.

“So far, we have completed five solar powered boreholes, three market stores containing ten stores each, three market stalls containing fourteen stalls each.

“One market stall as well as two cassava model processing mill with creche and restrooms still ongoing.

“Over 2, 233 farmers from 204 farmers organisations engaging in rice and cassava production, processing and marketing were profiled and benefiting from VCDP interventions across the participating LGAs,” she added.

Adgidzi said VCDP has distributed 3, 850 kg of oved varieties of seeds, 23,100kg of fertilizers and 154 litres of selective and non-selective herbicides to 136 farmers.

She added that VCDP has also trained 300 farmers on financial literacy, aimed at helping them access loan and other financial services to boost their production.