15th July, 2017
Igwe Bennett Emeka, the traditional ruler of Umueri community in Anambra, has lauded the Federal Government/International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) programme on rice and cassava production.
Emeka made the commendation on Friday when the 5th FGN/IFAD Supervision Mission Team to the state inspected a 25-hectare cassava farmland with access road at Umueri, in Anambra East Local Government Area.
The monarch, who said he cultivate cassava and rice, described the programme as “economic booster”.
“The programme has provided job opportunities for youths in my community and increased yields in line with the state government’s vision for self-sufficiency in food production,” he said.
He assured the security of farmlands, peace and tranquillity in the area, adding that arrangements were on to build rice and cassava processing plants in the community.
Earlier, the leader of the team, Dr Oyesola Oyebanji, expressed satisfaction at the level of progress made by the programme in the state.
He said that the two-day mid-term inspection was to garner first-hand information on the areas of weakness that needed improvement.
The team leader urged farmers to mobilise savings as groups in order to sustain the programme in the future.
He also urged the Community Alliance Forum to go beyond aggregating and selling rice paddies to supporting farmers with farm inputs and constructing farm roads.
In his remark, Mr Nnamdi Aguncha, the State Programme Coordinator, Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), expressed delight that there was total buy-in of the programme by rice and cassava farmers in the community.
Aguncha said that due to budget constraints, the demands of farmers could not be met during the 2017 farming season; he assured that the issue would be looked into.
“There is a commitment on our part, but due to the paucity of funds, we had to down scale to ensure we operated within the budget.
“We were constrained by what we budgeted for; we will meet the needs of farmers subsequently,” he assured.
The coordinator explained that VCPD was a programme sponsored by IFAD and the federal government to boost the income of smallholder farmers and promote food security.
Mr Sylvester Odinigwe, a cassava farmer and representative of Oganiru Umueri Multipurpose Community farmers, commended IFAD for providing training on the best agronomic practices in rice and cassava farming.
He said his group planted fast yielding cassava 419, TMS and 0581 varieties which had already been linked to an off-taker.