Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State has described the activities
of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as a
laudable programme capable of stimulating the economy from the
grassroots.
The Governor stated this when he played host to the Market and
Enterprise Development Advisor of Federal Government of Nigeria/IFAD
Value Chain Development Programme Nigeria Hajiya Fatima Muhktar Buhari
and her team in Government House, Minna the State capital.
Governor Sani Bello who said IFAD has done well in the State noted that
there is the need for a communication link to be set up, to monitor
their activities, pointing out the importance of government at all
levels to partner with development partners so as to increase the
productivity of men and women farmers to eradicate poverty.
“Government and development partners should partner to see that they
support men and women of the grass root so that they will increase on
their productivity and this is the way to eradicate poverty,” he said.
The Governor said to make a significant impact on the state through the
programme, more needs to be done considering the size of the state,
hence he directed the Ministry for Agriculture to give council note the
activities of IFAD from time to time.
He acknowledged that the programme is an interesting one and that the
State is blessed with economic potentials that will better a lot of not
only the State but the Nation in general, adding that he will open up
discussions with the Minister for Water Resources, to see how the Dams
in the State can be distilled to boost rice farming activities in the
State.
The Governor who assured the team of his administration’s support for
the programme to achieve it desired objective directed the Secretary to
State Government to liaise with the IFAD State Coordinator to ensure all
outstanding counterpart funding for the programme is cleared with the
view to accessing more funds from IFAD for more impactful activities.
In her remarks, the Market and Enterprise Development Advisor of Federal
Government of Nigeria/IFAD Value Chain Development Programme Nigeria,
Hajiya Fatima Muhktar Buhari, said they were in the State to visit some
Local Government Areas including Wushishi, Bida, Katcha, Kontagora and
Shiroro where they have ongoing programmes.
Earlier the State Programme Coordinator Dr Matthew Ahmed explained that
the programme support Rice and Cassava as basic commodities in the State
for now, but hope to include shea butter, Cowpea and Yam soon, adding
that though the programme currently operates in five local government
areas of the state, they also provide intervention programmes such as
capacity training to other five local government areas.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development is an international
financial institution and a specialised agency of the United Nations
that works to address poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing
countries.