World Bank Commends Lagos State Over Commitment To APPEALS Project
Lagos State Government has been commended by World Bank, for its top-notch performance in its implementation of the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project and its commitment to farmers in the state.
Task Team Leader of the World Bank Mission to Lagos, Dr Adetunji Oredipe and the National Project Coordinator of APPEALS, Mohammed Jobdi, gave the commendation at the Federal Government/World Bank 8th Implementation Support Mission visit to the Lagos State at the Johnson Agiri Complex, Oko-Oba Agege.
Jobdi while speaking said that the visit to Lagos APPEALS Project and the other five states, earlier visited by the World Bank and Federal Government team was to review the project’s implementation and give stakeholders the opportunity to rub minds regarding the issues, challenges and constraints being faced for greater outputs.
He said, “Lagos is doing very well based on the report we have been getting from them. Before now we have been able to access Lagos state, they have been able to support farmers and our beneficiaries of about 10,000. As far as the women and youth empowerment programme is concerned we have about 1700 that have been trained and supported with grants to enable them to start up their different enterprises and in terms of infrastructure and other components Lagos state is doing very well our assessment.”
He said the visit is a routine kind of activity that is carried out every six months to know how far the state has fared from the last mission which was conducted in December 2021.
Also, Oredipe hailed the Lagos APPEALS Project’s commitment to farmers in the State, noting that the implementation of the project in the state had really improved the livelihood of women and youths as well as enhanced outputs in the agricultural value chain.
He said the reports of the activities of the Lagos APPEALS Project are commendable, adding that they will continue to sustain the project with investment in the state to get the desired results in order to do things differently and finish well.
Abisola Olusanya, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, in her keynote address said that the state government is strongly committed to enhancing the agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers as well as improving value addition along the agricultural value chains in line with the core objectives of the Lagos APPEALS Project.
“The implementation of APPEALS project in Lagos State through capacity building and technology adoption support to our farmers has positively increased productivity of rice paddy in the State from 1.5 MT to 2.5 MT / Ha and 2.0 -3.56 MT/ Ha for Ofada and FARRO 44 respectively, Catfish productivity has increased from 100 Kg/ m3 to 151.3 Kg / m3, and in poultry, Broiler has increased from 1.8 Kg/ bird per cycle to 2.5 Kg/ bird. The processed output and sales of products for the value chains follow the same trend such that the aquaculture farmers supported by APPEALS project have produced 307.948 MT Fresh Tilapia and are expanding day by day. By virtue of our abundant water resources with as much as 20 per cent of the State made up of water, we are a natural hub for aquaculture. APPEALS project has continued to promote productivity enhancement technologies and promotion of value addition through demonstration of improved technologies. I must say that the inclusion of the Women and Youth Empowerment Programme in the design of this project is a novel idea because agriculture offers our people, especially our youths, an opportunity to make a difference, especially through effective deployment of technology in the sector, for improved productivity and the attainment of our food security and safety goals on one hand, and our job creation agenda on the other.”
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Olatokunbo Emokpae, said Lagos State’s vision of making Africa’s Model Mega City and Global Economic and Financial Hub is hinged on the six pillars of the State’s THEMES developmental agenda of the present administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Lagos State Project Coordinator of APPEALS, Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo, commended governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration’s commitment to improving the livelihood of farmers in the State through agriculture, adding that the State Government has been of tremendous support for the implementation and success story of APPEALS Project in Lagos State.
Nigerian Tribune
