- Across four states in aquaculture and cassava value chains
BY COBHAM NSA – Focused on boosting farmers’ capacities to access and repay commercial loans, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc has completed a mid-year training programme for lead farmers and extension agents in the Aquaculture and Cassava value chains in the country.
The programme featured over 2,000 participants, across locations in Imo, Kwara, Oyo and Sokoto States with representatives of the respective state governments in attendance.
Importantly, NIRSAL targets lead farmers with the experience and skill to share new knowledge with members of their various cooperatives for its training programmes. This is aimed at promoting continuously the Agro Geo-Cooperative approach to primary production.
According to the Head of Corporate Communications, Jude Nnadozie, in Imo State, where over 500 participants assembled in two locations, one urban and one rural, the empowerment training focused on efficient models for fish production.
He further explained that the same training took place in Sokoto State, while the outing in Oyo and Kwara States focused on cassava.
Speaking during the programme, the Committee Chairman on Agriculture, Imo State House of Assembly, Uche Agabige commended NIRSAL for including Imo in this round of the capacity-building programme.
He expressed confidence that the training programme would complement local efforts to boost agricultural productivity in the state.
In his intervention, the Head of Value Chain Capacity Development at NIRSAL Plc, Mr Ibrahim Suleiman, said the capacity development programme is part of the Technical Assistance offered by NIRSAL to agricultural value chain actors under its Technical Assistance pillar.
Also stating the programme was taking place concurrently in three other states spanning four geo-political zones, Suleiman further disclosed that lead farmers and extension agents in aquaculture and cassava were similarly gathered at two urban and rural locations in Sokoto, Oyo, and Kwara States.
He said the expected outcome is cascading the training to an estimated 6,000 farmers across the respective states.
Highlights of the empowerment training were the commendations and warm reception accorded the NIRSAL teams in the various locations, with kudos specifically coming from the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Akinyele Local Government Chairman in Oyo State; as well as the Special Adviser to the Kwara State Governor on Farmers’ Interventions, among other stakeholders.
Aside from forming functional cooperatives with proper governance structures, the training programme also discussed readiness for possible protocol breaches and early warning systems.
This is even as participants, who spoke after the lectures, said they were delighted at the new insights gained, pledging to share the same with members of their various cooperatives going forward.
Meanwhile, NIRSAL Spokesperson, Nnadozie, explained that the logic for the Imo training exercise is provided by one of the five pillars of NIRSAL, Technical Assistance, under which value chain fixing initiatives are researched, developed, and promoted.
Established in 2013, NIRSAL Plc is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) established to de-risk agriculture and agribusiness financing in Nigeria, while also stimulating the flow of finance and investment into the Agricultural Value Chain from multiple sources.
