By Priscilla Campbell,
Minna
The International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) has been extended for three more years, according to the Niger State Coordination, Dr. Matthew Ahmed.
The decision to extend the life spend of the programme is to address dry season farming and propel Niger State into rice processing of international standard.
Ahmed disclosed this at the Value Chain Development Programme Additional Financing (VCDP-AF) State Sensitization and Mobilization visit at the Niger State Ministry of Agriculture in MInna.
He said that the project was to round up in December 2019 but, now extended to December 2022 due to its performance and the number of farmers that have benefited from the projects.
The coordinator stated that three additional local government areas in Niger State, Edati, Mokwa and Borgu, have added to the existing five where VCDP was being implemented in the state.
He also explained that the programme, in the next three years, has a set target of over 30,000 farmers with special focus on women and youths, adding that more local government areas are also expected to come on board.
“In the last four years, the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) had trained 22,000 farmers including 16,500 youths and 7,200 women. “IFAD is more interested to work with women and youths in the state.”
The Permanent Secretary of the Niger state Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Garba Musa Ibrahim, however, applauded the efforts of IFAD-VCDP for extending the programme year and adding three other local governments to boost the state’s agricultural output.