FG Empowers 3000 Smallholder’s Farmers In South West And South South Regions
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in implementing Agriculture For Food and Jobs Creation Programme, AFJP under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Scheme of Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning has trained and empowered 3,000 Smallholder’s Vulnerable Farmers in Southwest and South South
The training and empowerment of 3,000 famers were carried out simultaneously in the 12 South West and South South States of the Country.
The beneficiaries who were drawn by the respective State Ministry of Agriculture and validated by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security were supported with farm inputs to assist and improve their farm production and productivity. Inputs distributed include Knapsack sprayers, organic fertilisers, herbicides, maize seeds, rice seeds, vegetable seeds like tomato, pepper and okra for homesteads farming. Other Inputs were Day Old Chicks for poultry farmers and fish feeds for fish farmers.
The major objective of the programme was to take the vulnerable Smallholder’s farmers out of poverty by enhancing their productivity through the use of modern Agricultural technologies.
Twelve Resource persons were drawn from the Faculties of Agriculture in the Federal Universities to take the farmers through Good Agricultural Practices that will assist them to become successful commercial farmers.
One of the resource persons, Professor Tajudeen Bameke of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), urged farmers to add value to their products to make more profit.
Bameke said that processing their agricultural produce through value addition would reduce exploitation by middlemen and as well reduce the high cost of food in the market.
He said that activities of middlemen in the agricultural sector usually led to high cost of food in the market while the real farmers make little profit on their produce.
The farmers who will also be supported with conditional transfer of fifteen thousands naira after the empowerment were full of praise to the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning as well as the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for the programme aimed at lifting the vulnerable smallholders farmers out of poverty into prosperity especially at this crucial time in Nigeria.
Leading the distribution were the various states Officers from the State Ministry of Agriculture and State Agricultural Development Programmes with full supervision of the Officers of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Abuja
