Abuja, Jan. 29, 2025 – The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) says its partnership with Nigeria to transform agriculture in Niger State is having positive effects.
It said the collaboration was having positive impact on the farmers, particularly those in the rice value chain, celebrating improved livelihoods through the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP).
Hajiya Isah, the State Programme Coordinator of the VCDP, said this after a media tour of rice farming and processing communities in the state.
She said the intervention particularly had positive impacts on farmers in Edati.
This was disclosed on Wednesday by IFAD in a statement issued by Vera Onyeaka-Onyilo, its Knowledge Management and Communication Advisor.
According to the statement, Isah said before the program, farmers relied solely on rainfed agriculture and had little to no activity during the dry season.
But, through the VCDP, farmers received training on good agronomic practices and were empowered with solar irrigation systems, enabling them to venture into dry-season farming.
“We are here to document the success stories of the farmers that VCDP has supported since the beginning of the program. Edati is one of the communities where we have implemented many supports for the farmers, especially the rice farmers.
“Before, they were engaged in rainfed agriculture, doing nothing during the dry season. We trained them on good agronomic practices and empowered them with a solar irrigation system. Some of them then decided to venture into dry season farming
“When they started the dry season farming, we trained them and supported them with solar irrigation pumps. From there, they expanded their farms.
“Before, some were farming just 2 hectares of land per person, while others did 1 hectare or even ½.
“But when we supported them with all the equipment, like power tillers and solar irrigation pumps, they started expanding their farms.
“Also before, they normally had 2 metric tons per hectare, and some even had less than that. But now, the farmers in Edati can boast of harvesting up to 6.5–7 metric tons per hectare. You could see from their success stories that this intervention has already changed their lives,” she said.
“They have a lot of success stories. Every year, most of them go to Hajj. Some of them now have houses, and their children are now in the city schooling instead of attending village schools because they can now pay their school fees, whether in Minna or other places.
“So, you can see that the farmers’ income has increased because of this intervention,” she said. (GBN)
