The President of Rice College of ROPPA, Mr. Pascal Gbenou, has the Kebbi success story could be the catalyst for West Africa and Africa meeting self sufficiency in food production.
‘ROPPA’ which is The West African Network of Agricultural Producers sent a five (5) man delegation to visit Nigeria and Kebbi State in particular. Members of the delegation were from Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Niger Republic.
The visit was a study tour aimed at visiting rice farms, rice milling & processing plants and focused mainly on interactions with farmers and officials on driving rice production. The delegation paid a courtesy visit to Alh. Garba Dandiga, the Hon. Commissioner, Ministry for Agriculture in Birnin-Kebbi on the 21st of July, 2017.
The Commissioner appreciated the delegation for their visit which he said was in line with the food self-sufficiency vision of the Governor, H.E. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and he informed them about policies that drive Agricultural production in Kebbi State.
At a farewell visit to the Governor at the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Birnin Kebbi, the team described Kebbi State as the “RICE CAPITAL OF AFRICA”. The Governor expressed delight about the visit.
He stated that this would encourage the state to do more in farming and commended the team for the tour. He assured the team that Kebbi State was always willing to assist other African Countries to learn more about rice cultivation and is also open to learning and collaborations.
Mr. Gbenou appreciated the people of Kebbi and Nigeria adding that the purpose of the visit had been achieved.
