Anambra FADAMA

Governor Peter Obi has distributed farm inputs and implements to Fadama Three Project Vegetable Grower in the State.  Governor Obi distributed the materials at the ADI Premises, Awka.
 
The beneficiaries of the materials are drawn from the twenty-five groups in fifteen communities spread across six Local Government Areas.
 
The materials distributed include water pumps and accessories, knapsacks sprayers, plastic tanks, litres of herbicides and insecticides as well as fertilizers and improved seeds.
 
Performing the function Governor Obi said government is accelerating tempo of Fadama activities across the State to empower poor farmers to increase their productivity in the drive to fight extreme poverty and hunger.  He enjoined the beneficiaries to put the materials to good use to actualize the desired goals to encourage government to invest more.
 
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Ndubisi Menakaya said Governor Obi had remained consistent in prompt payment of government counterpart cash contribution and other logistics supports which he noted had boosted activities of the Fadama project. He explained that empowerment of vegetable growers will contribute immensely in the creation of jobs and wealth for the unemployed.
 
Also speaking the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Prof. Chinyere Okunna  said the empowerment was targeted at empowering the farmers to expand and increase their productivity for food sufficiently in the efforts to achieve  one of the goals of  MDGs.
 
Prof. Okunna enjoined the vegetable growers to put in more efforts to increase their output to enable the State actualize food security.  The Acting State project coordinator, Mr. Evelyn Odiari said the empowerment will boost the level of vegetable production and mineral intake in the State as well as enable the State join the league of vegetable exporting States in the country.

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Gov Obi Doles N2.5b To Farmers

The days of neglect are over for farmers in Anambra State, ushering in hope for food sufficiency.

Agricultural schemes, for which the state was once known, are being revived. Farmers are meeting regularly with the state governor Peter Obi. At one of those meetings with the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), which included rice growers and members of the FADAMA Group in the state, Obi announced the release of N1b agric loan to help them improve their inputs and yield.
The state is also in partnership with various organisations to boost food production. Such collaborations with the National Programme for Food Security have, for instance, added five tractors and a modern fish farm to the state's agric sector. The governor inaugurated them at an event tagged Growth Enhancement Support.

There are other gains from the partnership. Medical equipment worth several millions of naira has been supplied to a hospital in Omasi community. A borehole has also been sunk there. Forty-six motorcycles were equally procured for the community's youths in addition to an ICT centre set up in the community.

Obi has always maintained that his administration will ensure that the state does not lack food. To actualise this, farmers are encouraged with various facilities, including cash and other inputs. But while the state prioritises the agric sector, the Obi administration says it must not lose sight of other sectors as well, which is why it is building roads in rural areas as well as enhancing life generally in the state.
A representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr Akinwumi Adesina was on hand as Obi inaugurated the facilities. The minister thanked the governor for his interest and support for the development of agriculture in Nigeria.

He explained that the Growth Enhancement Support programme, being an initiative of the Federal Government, was conceived to address the challenges encountered in the distribution of agricultural inputs as well as subsidy administration. He said the programme was designed to facilitate timely and easy access to seeds and fertilisers at affordable prices.

Governor Obi said agriculture remained the key to development and called on the people of Anambra State to take it seriously. He assured them of his administration's support.

He said it was in recognition of the imperatives of enhancing farming that his administration strategically built over 60 per cent of the state's roads in the rural areas to open up agricultural communities to markets and other distribution locations. He added that his administration is also committed to all counterpart obligations in all its partnership programmes.

The Permanent Secretary, Anambra State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Andy Umeobi said that the Growth Enhancement Support would ensure that his ministry would ensure fertilizers got to the farmers for whom they are meant.

Speaking at the governor's meeting with farmers, the President of AFAN in the state, Chief Mekoh Nnamdi said with the support farmers are getting, the state would witness phenomenal growth in agriculture this year.
Governor Obi who said he was prepared to support farmers in all ramifications, though he warned that only genuine farmers and young people determined to go into production will get loans, and not those he referred to as "emergency or political farmers".

The chairman of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria in the state, Chief Paul Mgbechi commended the governor for the meeting, saying Obi has shown profound interest in the welfare of farmers and in the growth of agriculture in the state.

The leader of FADAMA, Mr. Chukwudi Mojekwu said Obi's support for the all-year farming scheme, has made it one of the best in the country. The World Bank and the National Fadama Coordination Office also have very warm impressions of the programme in the state.

In Awka, the state capital, the World Bank Team Leader, Dr. Abimbola Adubi said the global bank is interested in working with the Obi administration since it is evident that the governor is focused on tackling poverty.
Adubi also announced that Anambra has been chosen as one of two states in the country marked for piloting a new programme of the Bank while ICT centres will be sited there to help the farmers.
At the event, Obi distributed cheques totalling about N60m to FADAMA community associations.
Mojekwu, the state coordinator of the scheme, urged beneficiaries to work hard and ensure financial discipline, noting that the project is known for openness and transparency.

The Community Development Officer (CDO), Fadama Project, Mrs. Rosaria Ohaeri, called on the delegates from the 20 FADAMA participating local governments in the state to elect credible and dedicated persons to the state executive in their interest and that of the state.

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N4.3b for Farmers - FG

The federal government  through the Ministry of Agriculture  and Rural Development  has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Industry (BoI) for a N4.3 billion cassava bread  fund that would  support  small and medium enterprises (SMEs), master bakers and large  industrial cassava flour mills.

This is even as the managing director of the BoI, Ms Evelyn Oputu, who signed on behalf of the bank   has pledged  that the bank would work closely with  the stakeholders  to ensure that the fund was properly utilised.

The  MD said that  the nation would save a lot of money in foreign exchange from the implementation of the federal government's policy of 20 per cent cassava substitution in bread and other confectioneries by the year 2014, adding  that  the bank would  continue to drive the nation's agriculture transformation policy.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, who signed  on behalf of the federal government, said  Nigeria's revenue from cassava production would increase exponentially, following how output has been doubled in the last one year to ensure the nation continues to retain its position as the largest producer of the crop in the world.

Adesina disclosed that a total of N1.5 billion has been set aside for the upgrade of the capacity of 35 existing small cassava flour mills in the country.

This support, according to the minister, would be provided in the form a 50 per cent loan and 50 per cent grant, while the BoI would provide a working capital of N425 billion as loans  to SME cassava flour  processors at single digit  rate.

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Family Without Hunger

The Catholic Secretariat in Abuja on Monday launched anti-hunger and poverty campaign with a view to eradicating hunger worldwide by 2030.

The campaign, entitled "One Human Family without Hunger and without Poverty," organised in collaboration with All Caritas Network, is being driven by Caritas Nigeria, on behalf of the secretariat.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Caritas Nigeria is an agency of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria saddled with the task to intervene in development and humanitarian issues.

Speaking at launching ceremony, the Executive Secretary of Caritas Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Evaristus Bassey, said the campaign was about human rights, to question structures and preach care for one another.

Bassey said the gap between the social classes in the society was appalling and challenged governments and NGOs to close the gap.

"Today, World Human Rights Day, is a celebration of humanity; everybody has dignity and it should be defended.

"It is appalling to see some people walk freely while others are limited, some sleep overfed while others go hunger; some have houses in all the capital cities of the world while some have no place to lay their heads; it is a shame.

"I call on the governments and NGOs to address the imbalances in the society, settle disputes in Benue, Nasarawa and Plateau, so that hunger can be reduced in these areas."

Bassey identified the area worst hit by hunger and poverty as the northern part of the country and blamed the situation on desert encroachment and security crisis.

He said Caritas Nigeria had made a cash donation to 2,000 families in the north, adding that the organisation was creating a pool of funds to keep the support going.
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300,000 Farmers Trained On Rice Production

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Kaduna State Government on Friday in Kaduna said they would train 300,000 farmers to boost rice production in the country.

The minister, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, represented by the Director, State Agricultural Development Programme, Alhaji Tijani Isiaku, said this during a one-day training for farmers on rice production.

Adesina said the training was aimed at equipping both large and small scale farmers on modern techniques in rice production.

``What the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is trying to do is to encourage farmers to boost rice production through the use of modern techniques, which will yield more production massively.''

He said the state had the second largest number of registered rice farmers, and advised others to register to benefit from loans, training and assistance that would promote exportation.

The minister decried the high quantity of rice imported into the country, adding that efforts were in place to promote rice production for exportation, increase in revenue and job-creation.

Also, the Assistant Director in charge of Rice in the ministry, Mr Andrew Ikadeunu, said the government's target was that by 2014, the nation would be self-sufficient.

He urged farmers to participate in the Federal Government programmes on availability of rice production equipment at very low interest rates to boost production, reduce cost of production and generate more money.

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