Nigerian Government to Implement NAGs-AP in Five States
The Federal government has introduced plans to kick-start the implementation of the rebranded National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-pocket (NAGs-AP), in five states where the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme Phase-One (ATASP-1) Project has been implemented.
These states, according to the report gathered, includes Niger, Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano and Sokoto state.
The programme, being implemented through the ATASP-1 project of the Federal Government, funded by African Development Bank (AfDB), is a direct replacement of the former Growth Enhancement Support (GES) which was re-introduced to address the yearnings of different value chain players.
While speaking in Abuja during a preparatory meeting of stakeholders for the implementation of the project, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Ernest Umakhihe, stated that the key objective is to increase the production of wheat, rice, maize, sorghum and soybean through the provision of relevant farm inputs to small scale farmers during wet and dry season farming.
Under the programme, Umakhihe said 60,000 smallholder farmers in 26 local government areas of the five ATASP-1 states that are involved in the cultivation of rice, maize and sorghum would be supported with critical farm inputs such as fertilizer, seeds and agrochemicals through the ICT-based delivery platform with a view to increasing their productivities, household incomes and livelihood.
According to him, the use of the ICT platform in implementing the scheme will not only help to easily evaluate the actual performances and impacts of the programme, but will also track the transactions between the beneficiary farmers and the input providers with a view to promoting transparency and accountability in the input delivery process to guarantee sustenance of the scheme.
The project, Umakhihe noted, is targeted at supporting over 250,000 wheat farmers with relevant farm inputs to cultivate about 250,000 hectares with expected output of 1,250,000 metric tons of wheat to be added to the food reserve so as to reduce dependence on foreign importation of the product and increase domestic consumption particularly for the flour millers.
However, he said the project, aside supporting farmers with critical farm inputs for the production of the priority crops, will also provide institutional support for better performances.
Also, the National Programme Coordinator, ATASP-1, Dr Ibrahim Arabi, said the objectives of NAGSAP is synonymous with the objectives of ATASP-1 which are; to ensure attainment of food and nutrition security, contribute to employment generation and wealth creation of the targeted beneficiaries along rice, sorghum and cassava value chains on sustainable basis.
Others, he said, are to attract private sector investments in agriculture, reduce post-harvest losses, add value to local agricultural produce, develop rural infrastructure and enhance access of farmers and other value chain actors to financial services and markets.
Agro Nigeria / Foluke Ibitomi
