The Federal Government and International Fund for Agricultural Development, through the Value Chain Development Programme (FG/IFAD -VCDP) has distributed some support items to farmers affected by recent flooding in the state.
Nasarawa State Coordinator of VCDP, Dr Eunice Adgidzi while distributing the items on Thursday in Lafia, said it was part of the programme’s Flood Recovery Strategy Support (FRSS).
She said that 107 farmers drawn from 23 farmers associations in the state were benefiting from the support.
Adgidzi, represented by Mrs Rifkatu Jatau, listed the items to include 4, 240 kg of rice seeds (faro 44), 636 bags of fertilisers, 212 litres of selective and non selective herbicides, and 40 water pumps.
The State’s VCDP Coordinator added that the donation was aimed at helping the victims of the flood disaster to recover from their huge losses.
She advised the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the inputs in order to better their lives and for the benefit of the people of the state.
The Coordinator added that the farmers were drawn from farmers associations in Lafia, Doma, Karu, Nasarawa and Wamba Local Government Areas.
On her part, the National Programme Coordinator of VCDP, Dr Fatima Aliyu, explained that the programme had set aside N252 million to provide agro inputs and equipment to the affected farmers in the country to carry out dry season farming.
Aliyu, represented by Mr Safiyu Alabi, said IFAD had also approved additional N467.9 million to the VCDP to further provide support to farmers affected by the floods.
“We are here today to witness the distribution of the support to the farmers which consist of agro inputs and water pumps to boost their dry season farming.
“A total of 1, 495 farmers will be supported across the nine (9) VCDP participating states of Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Enugu, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, and Taraba to produce rice during the current dry season.
“We believed that this support by the FGN/IFAD VCDP will go a long way in alleviating the adverse effects of the flood and assist our farmers to recover from their losses and restore their livelihoods,” Aliyu added.
She further said that VCDP would deploy climate adaptation strategies such as flood tolerant rice varieties, climate resilient and other climate smart agric technologies to reduce the effects of future floods on farmers.
She lauded the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mahmood Abubakar, for his concern to the farmers affected by the floods and for quickly approving their request to reallocate funds to provide succor to the farmers.
She also commended Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State for his commitment and support to the VCDP in the State.
In his remarks, Nasarawa State Commissioner for Agriculture and Water Resources,Nuhu Oshafu commended VCDP for the intervention to complement the efforts of the State Government.
The Commissioner, represented by Muhammed Azara, expressed the willingness of the State Government to partner individuals and groups interested in the development of the state.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Akila Danlami expressed gratitude to VCDP and Nasarawa State Government for the support.
He recalled how their rice farm was destroyed by the recent flood and expressed optimism that with the support, they would be on their feat again and continue their farming activities.