In a bid to boost agriculture, and strengthen climate adaptive capabilities amongst other objectives, 91,000 households in northern states would be engaged by the Federal Government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
Mrs Dede Ekoue, Country Director of IFAD made the announcement during the national launch of the design mission for Value Chain in Northern Nigeria (VCN), funded by the federal government, IFAD and French Development Agency (AFD).
Ekoue stated that this project is in line with the President’s Agribusiness Tansformation Agenda, which is targeted at 91000 households, and a total of 456000 individual beneficiaries in the northern states.
While emphasizing the crucial role of the design mission, she stated that this will help to test on the field the best strategies towards achieving objectives, leveraging on past successes, and existing best practices.
She further stressed that the project’s overall goal is to enhance the integration of farmers into agribusiness value chains, as this would facilitate women and youth entrepreneurship in agiculture, foster partnership with the private sector as well as modernise agriculture through the use of digital solutions.
According to her, ”This aims to harness the potential of agrifood systems for promoting sustainable and inclusive economic growth , increase job creation and income through development of stronger, better integrated, inclusive and resilient value chains that boost rural development.”