Thousands of farmers benefit from APPEALS project in Kano
Thousands of farmers have benefitted from the Federal Government/World Bank-supported Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project, in Kano State.
This was disclosed by the Deputy Governor, Nasiru Gawuna during the inauguration of the Pre-6th Implementation Support Midterm Review of the APPEALS, recently in Kano.
The Pre-Mission exercise is being held in the six participating states of the federation ahead of the World Bank 6th implementation Support Mission scheduled to hold in February.
“6,344 farmers were trained while 1,700 youth and women, as well as persons with disabilities, were exposed to poultry and fishery productions” Gawuna said.
He further stated that more than 10,000 rice, wheat, and tomato farmers would be trained on modern techniques to encourage productivity, processing, and farmer enterprising skills to add value to the produce
“It is centered on food security, support to local production, job creation, economic diversification and improved revenue generation through agriculture.
“Kano State Government is committed towards supporting local production through the provision of improved inputs to achieve increased productivity and marketing of agricultural produce,” he said.
On his part, the APPEALS National Project Manager, Salisu Garba noted that the programme is currently being implemented in six states of the federation: Cross River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi and Lagos States.
State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya stated that 879 farmers and small and medium scale enterprises across poultry, aquaculture and rice value chains directly benefited from the programme while 3,516 stakeholders in the sector also benefited indirectly.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya, the commissioner explained that most of the beneficiaries received inputs and equipment to help them boost their productivity.
MTO/AgroNigeria
