Kogi APPEALS set to support rice farmers for dry season farming »

The Agro- Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS), Kogi state coordination office has held a stakeholder engagement meeting with rice farmers across the three senatorial district of the state in preparation for the 2021/2022 dry season farming.

The objective of the meeting according to the state project coordinator Dr. Sanni Abdullahi Ozomata was to discuss with farmers on the gaps and issues relating to the implementation of the dry season farming in the state. He said since the state government cleared the VCIPs submitted by farmers and the subsequent approval by the World Bank, there is need for the project to rub minds together on how best the VCIPs can be implemented in order to meet up with the timetable for the dry season farming.

The state project coordinator told the farmers that the support been facilitated by Kogi APPEALS is in form of a grant and not a loan that would be repayable by the government, and urged them to reciprocate the kind gesture by putting to good use of the inputs and equipment.

He decried a situation where group executives will deprive other members of the use of any input facilitated by the project and warned against such acts that are capable of bringing disunity to the group. He emphasized the need for the executives to always carry other members along in information sharing and equipment utilization.

He noted that the project has taken the pains to identify the real farmers in the state in order to ensure that the right farmers get the right support and urged them to be productive in the use of the support. He affirmed the readiness of the state coordination office in fast-tracking the necessary support that will make the rice farmers remain active during the dry season.

In their separate remarks, the farmers appreciated the effort of the state office of the APPEALS project in empowering the farmers for the dry season farming and equally mentioned key areas of support that will enable them function effectively, such as the provision of pumping machines, tube wells and the availability of inputs at the right time.

Responding, the state project coordinator said that the intervention of the APPEALS Project is for existing farmers who are active in the farming business and that the support from the project is to take them to the next level of their farming business. He noted that the supports that will be given to farmers are the ones provided for in the VCIP’s. The inputs and equipment being facilitated by Kogi APPEALS for farmers during the dry season are Rice seedlings, NPK fertilizers, and water pumping machines, Herbicides, Power tiller and rice harvester amongst others.

He urged the farmers to report to the office any substandard item supplied to them by any service providers to ensure the farmers get top quality inputs and equipment.