When the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) entered into an agreement to support rural rice and cassava production in six pilot states of Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Niger, Ogun and Taraba, their aim was to step up the income base of rural farmers as well as achieve food security.
Although, the initiative was first sealed in 2014, the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) disbursement became effective in February 2015, and this gave the beneficiaries the financial impetus to fully develop their preferred rice and cassava value chain.
The good news of the intervention is that many rural farmers in Anambra, today have testimonies on how the scheme has impacted on their living conditions.
The highly elated farmers bared their minds when a Project Completion Review Team of FGN/IFAD led by Mr Bassey Unauwo visited various locations of the beneficiaries in some communities in Anambra recently.
Mr Fidelis Onyia, a rice farmer and member of the Commodity Agricultural Forum (CAF) in Ayamelum Local Government Area of the state, said that the FGN/IFAD has changed his living condition as well as raised the income status of farmers, especially the youth.
Onyia said that to equip the members of his commodity group, some were trained on seed production at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, while others received training on cassava processing at Umudike.
“This training made the beneficiaries to understand the basic things they should know on the cultivation of rice and cassava in order to achieve result during harvest,’’ he said.
“We were cultivating rice before we joined the programme in 2016. Since then, we have received inputs twice, as well as capacity training in addition to establishing linkages with insurance and financial institutions,” he said.
He says the commitment of Anambra State Government, especially in the prompt payment of counterpart funds and creation of ready markets further boosted the programme.
Onyia, who says the policy of Gov. Willie Obiano to buy rice in big quantity from FGN/IFAD farmers for distribution to civil servant during every Christmas has turned most beneficiaries to millionaires.
He notes that what the beneficiaries are appealing for is the completion of a rice mill project and provision of more boreholes, saying when provided, rice production will further improve in the area.
Mrs Ngozi Ebuo, Chairperson, Divine Destiny Youth Group, Omor community in Ayamelum Local Government Area, says her group with 25 members, joined the programme in 2015 and were cultivating 15 hectares, adding: Today we cultivate 42 hectares”.
Ebuo says the programme has significantly increased their income, as she recently acquired a car, motorcycle and other equipment which today has further made live worth living.
Another beneficiary of the programme, Mr Peter Emeka who doubles as the Chairman, Rainbow Multipurpose Cooperative Society, says his group has risen from 68 in 2016 to 260 in 2020, while they have established 10 rice clusters with more than 3,000 farmers.
“Before now, rice farmers had the challenges of low yield, pest and poor sales, in that we were unable to exceed 3.5 metric tons per hectares but with the value chain training, production has increased above seven metric tons per hectare and patronage is equally high,’’ he said.
Emeka, who expresses happiness over the construction of more than six farm roads in his Ayamelum area, equally attributed the Federal Government ban on the importation of foreign rice as another factor that made rice farming a choice business for youths in his locality.
“The modern machines recently acquired for rice processing has made it possible for our products to compete favorably with imported ones and we are happy for the enabling environment,’’ he said.
Mrs Ann Anierobi, Chairperson Nnedimma Women Rice Processing Group Omor, listed some benefits of VCDP intervention to include provision of moisture meter and modern rice polishing machine.
Other benefits included a borehole, generator, mellowing machine, a building, drying platform and capacity building among others.
Anierobi says the structures put on ground by VCDP, especially training on book keeping, linkages to financial institutions and agro-dealers have helped to sustain the business, even when the programme eventually winds down.
Mrs Nnaluolu Oluchukwu, a rice farmer at Ifite-Ogwari community of Ayamelum area, who joined the programme in 2016, notes that by 2019, she had laid the foundation of her one storey-building and acquired sewing machines for her fashion design business.
Oluchukwu, however, expressed displeasure with the yearly delay in profiling farmers for loans by the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NISRAL), saying that the delay affected performance of the programme and so, needed to be checked.
She commended private extension officers for their services, noting that her group was ready to sustain the partnership at the closure of the programme.
A cassava recipe trainee, Mrs Philomena Ekemezie, who is also the Chairperson, Amarachi Special Purpose, Umueri in Anambra East Local Government Area, described her training at IITA, Ibadan as a life changing opportunity.
“It has significantly improved our source of income and helped us not to depend on our husbands for everything,” Ekemezie explained.
One of the supports of the programme was a 3.7 km road leading to a cassava farm cluster at Umueri.
The state Project Coordinator of VCDP, Mr Nnamdi Agwuncha, expresses satisfaction with the implementation and the outcome of the visit.
Agwuncha says the visit by the team has taught the stakeholders in the area some lessons which will further impact on the programme.
Mr Bassey Unauwo, an official of FGN/IFAD led Project Completion Review Team to assess the level of impact of the programme on farmers in Awka North, Anambra West, Anambra East, Orumba North and Ayamelum areas following the expiration of the programme.
At Umueri in Anambra East Local Government, the team assessed a solar-powered borehole project and a bulky cassava processing centre valued at N23 million, saying the project when completed will further promote cassava production.
Unauwo expresses satisfaction that VCDP has achieved its set objectives in spite of some minor constraints.
“The project has been able to support farmers and impacted heavily on rural farming with increase in the productivity, family income and standard of living.
“The programme equally resulted in the construction of rural roads, especially to major rice and cassava clusters located in rural communities,” he noted.
He expressed displeasure that rice produced in the state was being branded in foreign bags.
“Anambra is producing quality rice but the product is not popular here when compared with Ebonyi State due to fake bagging of the product as foreign rice by criminal elements,” he observed.
The team leader urged the state government to look into the challenge so as to enter into the map as a major rice producing state in the country.
He stresses the need for improved relationship between beneficiaries and financial institutions, noting that farmers do complain of late arrival of inputs in some cases.
Unauwo advised the beneficiaries to imbibe the culture of saving and proper maintenance of infrastructure and equipment provided to them.
He says the equipment and infrastructure which were provided to the beneficiaries at 70 per cent subsidy were a one-off gesture.
“That is why government or VCDP is not expecting anything from you; it is left for you to effectively manage the facilities.”
With the testimonies of farmers from Anambra during the visit, it is evident that the aim of the FGN/IFAD Value Chain intervention on rice and cassava production in has no doubt recorded some successes.
All what is expected now is for the stakeholders in the state, especially rice and cassava farmers to sustain the gains recorded so far with a view to sustaining the live changing impact of the FGN/IFAD. (NAN/Features)
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