FG trains 18,000 Ogun residents through rice and cassava empowerment program
FG trains 18,000 Ogun residents through rice and cassava empowerment program
At least 18,000 residents of Ogun State have directly benefited from the Federal Government/International Fund for Agricultural Development (FGN/IFAD) Value Chain Development Project (VCDP) in rice and cassava over the past decade.
Mrs. Abiola Adewole-Sobukola, the Acting Coordinator of the FGN/IFAD/OGSG VCDP, revealed this on Wednesday while briefing journalists after touring facilities provided for farmers in the eight participating local government areas of the state.
She explained that the tripartite initiative seeks to boost productivity in rice and cassava while empowering smallholder farmers throughout the value chain. “Out of the state’s 20 local government areas, we are currently operating in eight,” she said.
We started with three, later added two, and eventually included three more, making eight in total.
Directly, we have reached over 18,000 people. You can then imagine the number of indirect beneficiaries,” she said.
She explained that the interventions extended beyond farmers to communities at large. “For instance, when we sink boreholes in some of the processing centres provided by the VCDP, it is the entire community that benefits, not just the farmers On the project’s impact, Adewole-Sobukola highlighted significant gains in productivity. “When we began in 2015, cassava yields averaged between 8 and 12 metric tonnes per hectare. Today, that figure has risen to 35 metric tonnes per hectare. For rice, yields were initially around 1.2 metric tonnes per hectare, but farmers are now harvesting between 5 and 8 metric tonnes per hectare.”
She also noted that rice produced through the project is already available in the market, contributing to the stabilization of the staple’s fluctuating prices.,” she added.
