The Niger state government has released the counterpart fund of N400m for the commencement of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) agriculture development intervention project, targeting 300, 000 beneficiaries in the state.
The state Commissioner of Agriculture, Musa Bawa Bosso, stated this on Monday in Minna during the inception meeting of the development partners and staff of the ministry.
He explained that AGRA is committing the sum of 280,000 US Dollars in assistance to the project not in cash while the state government has paid its counterpart fund of 27,000 US dollars equivalent to N400m in like manner.
He said, “The collaboration with AGRA is in line with the agricultural revolution in the state. As you all know, Niger state is leading the country in Agricultural revolution to ensure food security. AGRA has been a dependable partner in improving the agriculture sector in the state including capacity building.”
Bawa Bosso explained that project has a two-year tenure, adding that it also covers other ministries, including livestock and fishery and nomadic.
In a remarkable, the Niger State Programme Officer of AGRA, Godswill Aguiyi said farmers would be trained on how to add value to their produce, adding that “300,000 farmers would become agro-business experts having been elevated from the level of peasant farmers.”
He said AGRA is also going to develop a road map for the ministry to support the beneficiary farmers while providing the technical to implement agricultural activities in the state.
In a short presentation, the Technical Assistant of Synergos, Adejoh Victor, identified four areas of challenges in the ministry of agriculture, including weak capacity, slow implementation of agriculture policies, adding: “We will ensure evidence based monitoring to improve the livelihood of small scale farmers.”