How RAAMP will help improve food security, stem multidimensional poverty in states — BMO

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has described the $575m Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) recently launched by President Muhammadu Buhari as a good initiative to tackle multi-dimensional poverty in the beneficiary States.

The group said in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke that the project which the World Bank supports is targeted at constructing over 50,000 kilometres of access roads in rural areas to boost agricultural marketing.

“This is one initiative that the Buhari administration is midwifing and funding, even at a time of global economic crisis, to the tune of $65m in order to provide access roads for rural farmers to get farm produce to markets faster and in good condition.

“It is a five-year project to be implemented in 19 States across all six geo-political zones in the first instance and which the World Bank is committing $280m into while the International Development Agency (IDA) contributes another $230m.

“With a target of constructing 53,730km of roads in five years, we are convinced that the initiative will improve travel time between farmlands in rural parts of the benefitting States and the markets or production centres, as well as create prosperity for farmers.

“Invariably, the cost of transporting farm produces to the markets will be reduced, there will be a reduction in loss of perishable goods in transit and this will impact positively on the wellbeing of the average rural farmers.

“So RAAMP is bound to help beneficiary States tackle multidimensional poverty at a time that 72 per cent of Nigerians living in rural areas are multi-dimensional poor.”

The group also urged state governments to key into what the federal government is doing with RAAMP by providing complementary infrastructure to make the project a huge success.