Over 17,000 Farmers Benefit From APPEALS Project In Lagos

No fewer than 17,400 farmers in Lagos have benefitted from the World Bank assisted Agro-processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project.

The Appeals Project, which has received a total funding of $200 million commenced on the 23rd of March 2017 and is stipulated to end in the month of March 2023.

The project is aimed at supporting farmers’ productivity and their linkage to markets, facilitating the consolidation of agricultural products and cottage processing, facilitating farmers and small and medium businesses’ clustering and connection to infrastructure network and business services as well as providing technical assistance and institutional support to beneficiaries, federal and state governments in value chain development.

The Project Coordinator for Lagos State, Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo, stated that during the course of the project in Lagos, a total of 3950 regular farmers had benefited from the project directly, adding that 1786 women and youths had also benefited while 7533 farmers had been trained.

She added that the project had also recorded other successes including: desilting of canals especially around Ikorodu and Epe axis, knowledge management and evaluation for farmers, support to marketers and processors with solar powered kiosks, among others.

“This project is a Ministry of Agriculture project and I know that the Ministry of Agriculture will always be relevant. The legacies we are leaving behind, the Ministry will continue. I know that because we have done so well, the Ministry will not let it die,” she said.

For the beneficiaries, the intervention has gone a long way in improving their productivity.
Seyi Ladega, the Representative of Poultry Estate Farmers Association and a beneficiary of the Appeals Project said, “Before the Appeals Project came onboard, we had several difficulties like bad roads, unsustainable production. When they came onboard, they not only supported us with grants, they also took us through training from management to production and that has helped us to keep records. The Appeals Project even did record books for us to help us monitor our performance.”

“In terms of Broiler production, the Appeals experience was very successful. They linked us with verified off takers. We have taken a cue from that and in the next one year, Enikorodo and Ikorodu environs will be the hub of broiler production in West Africa. We want to ensure that in Lagos we do not import frozen chicken anymore, we will produce traditional standards,” she added.

CEO of Easy Shop, Easy Cook, Saudat Salami added that through the intervention of the Appeals Project, the company had been able to acquire a 15 ton Cold room which has accelerated their production and distribution within Nigeria.

“They wanted to be sure that we had a proper business structure in place and we were serious about what we were doing. Now, we are able to supply companies who order in tons which we were not able to deliver before they came onboard,” she said.

Daily Trust