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The Nation -Rice processing in Kano
The Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS), initiated to enhance agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers and improve value addition along priority value chains in the participating states in its Mid Term Review (MTR) has surpassed the 35 per cent targeted yield increase from baseline figures.
The project, which is expected to end by March 2023, is being implemented in six participating states, namely: Cross River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi and Lagos states.
The project is set up to support Small and Medium-scale farmers in the six participating states to demonstrate possibilities and opportunities along eleven selected priority Agricultural Value Chains to include rice, Wheat, Cassava, Cocoa, Cashew, Aquaculture, Poultry, Maize, Dairy, Ginger and Tomato.
Its Mid Term Review (MTR) and 6th implementation support mission shows that the project reached a total of 39,209 direct beneficiaries to include 60.84 per cent male and 39.16 female, and about 196,045 indirect beneficiaries who benefited in a total of 87 business alliances and out-grower schemes established across the six participating states of Cross River – 19, Enugu-5, Kaduna–16, Kano-25, Kogi-4, Lagos -18.
While explaining that the project is contributing directly to producing food locally through import substitution, the National Project Coordinator of APPEALS Mohammed Sani Jobdi the diversification of the national economy away from almost complete dependence on the crude oil sector is being achieved through enhancing the contribution of agriculture to the overall economy.
“In addition, the project is contributing to youth employment through the Women and Youth Empowerment Programme”, he said.
However, Jobdi said the main objective of the mission was to review implementation progress across all project components to ensure that the project was on track to achieve its stated objectives in the first half of project life; provide implementation support to the project teams in all areas of critical concern; and agree with State governments and the national coordination office on the required actions and activities including, where necessary, any restructuring or streamlining of the project activities and intervention packages that would further facilitate the achievement of the development objectives over the remaining life of the project.
According to him, the MTR allows the formulation of timely and workable solutions to implementation challenges that may have been encountered during the first half of the project so that implementation remains on course to achieving the Project Development Objective (PDO). This is especially true of a multi-year, multi-component and multi-institution development project, where a lot of implementation variables come into play.
Supported states value chains
While the project is being implemented in the six participating states, it identified different value chains that would bring quick returns and benefits, products with potential for immediate improvement of food security and value chains to enhance the national production of crops.
The Nation learnt that the project is supporting rice, cocoa and poultry value chains in Cross-River State; rice, cashew and Poultry in Enugu State; maize, ginger and dairy in Kaduna State; wheat, rice and tomato in Kano State; cassava, cashew and rice in Kogi State; while rice, aquaculture and poultry are being supported in Lagos State.
Jobdi said the objective of the project is to enhance the agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers and improve value addition along priority value chains in the participating states.
Overall project implementation status
The national project coordinator said satisfactory progress has been accomplished towards the achievement of the project development objective, adding that the project is now at an accelerated implementation trajectory and has already achieved some of its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
”With additional actions agreed during this MTR, the project is poised to significantly contribute to enhancing production and productivity of the selected crops included under the project as well as improving the income of project beneficiaries.
Significant increase in productivity
He said an average increase of 48.9 per cent disaggregated among targeted commodities was recorded, while cassava increased productivity from a baseline of 15 metric tonnes per hectare to 33.33 metric tonnes per hectare representing 122.2 per cent.
According to him, maize increased from 2.52 metric tonnes per hectare to 3.46 metric tonnes per hectare representing 37.3 per cent, ginger increased from 11.86 metric tonnes per hectare to 16.41 metric tonnes per hectare representing 38.4 per cent, cocoa increased from 0.61 metric tonnes per hectare to 0.72 metric tonnes per hectare representing 18.0 per cent and rice from an average yield of 2.86 metric tonnes per hectare to 5.5 metric tonnes per hectare representing 92.3 per cent.
He added that the project also recorded increased productivity of tomato from 22.0 metric tonnes per hectare to 43.0 metric tonnes per hectare representing 95.5 per cent, adding that wheat increased from 1.8metric tonnes per hectare to 2.16 metric tonnes per hectare representing 20 per cent.
“Aquaculture with an average baseline of 100kg/m3 to 130 kg/m3 representing 30 per cent and dairy from 1.31litres/cow/day to 1.79litres/cow/day representing 36.6 per cent, while cashew productivity rose from 0.5 metric tonnes per hectare to 0.7 metric tonnes per hectare representing 40 per cent.
Productivity of processed products
The Project Operations Manager of APPEALS, Dr. Salisu Garba said there is an increase on the average for the value chains at 47.7 per cent, with milled rice moving from 3.2 metric tonnes/CIG/day to 4.9 metric tonnes of Commodity Interest Groups (CIG) per day representing 53.1 per cent adding that processed cassava moved from 1.7 metric tonnes/CIG per day to 2.35 metric tonnes CIG per day representing 38.2 per cent.
According to him, processed fish moved from 0.78 metric tonnes CIG per day to 1.02 metric tonnes CIG per day representing 30.8 per cent, while processed wheat moved from 86 metric tonnes CIG per day to 145 metric tonnes CIG per day representing 68.6 per cent.
“Considerable production volume of value chains to include cassava (20,005MT), rice (29,404.69MT), maize (3,261MT), ginger (15,374.59MT), and cocoa (129.14MT). Others include poultry (6,661.05MT), catfish (1,250MT), tilapia (97.5MT), wheat (2,160MT), tomato (14,520) were added to the national food basket.“Increased access to market through linkage recorded with 85 off-takers doing business (input supply to and output demand from participating farmers)”, he added.
Additional impact
Garba said the project empowered 8,078 youth and women in the areas of providing them with business, technical and life skills training, support to business planning and facilitation of business name registration with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), start-up grants to establish a commercially viable business and mentorship to provide the beneficiaries with continued support from established agribusiness entrepreneurs.
Garba added that the project has linked 25 agribusiness clusters to infrastructures such as boreholes, tube wells and box culverts across the participating States.
He added that demonstration of 96 improved technologies of 50 per cent which are climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive has been adopted by project beneficiaries in the 1,268 Value Chains Investment Plans (VCIPs) across 11 priority value chains.
He said five per cent of the total number of Women and Youth Empowerment Programme (WYEP) beneficiaries of 10,000 representing at least 500 from the International Development Association (IDA) funding have been set aside for People With Disabilities and Special Need (PWDSN), adding that they are currently being trained and empowered.
“The WYEP beneficiaries are open to choosing any other value chains, but within the selected priority value chains for the project. This flexibility has enabled the youth to select commodities of high sustainability with quick returns on investment and a high potential for foreign exchange generation and wealth creation.
On commodity aggregation and cottage processing centres, he said 83 out of the 90 targets have been identified, verified and are at various stages of preparation and design.
Garba said a lot of achievements have been recorded in about three states of Kano, Kaduna and Cross River where a total of about 5,052 farmers have either been linked to market outlets.
“The project outcome indicator for productivity increase was 35 per cent for each value chain. And as of the mid-term review (February 2021), all the value chains have surpassed the 35 per cent targeted yield increase from baseline figures. Across all the value chains, there was a 48.9 per cent increase in average yield. This is above the average 35 per cent target at the onset of the project.
“Increase in the processed output of the priority value chains by project beneficiaries a minimum of 40 per cent increase in processed products was expected for all the value chains. As at MTR, data from processed cassava, rice, aquaculture, and wheat showed an average increase of 47.7 per cent. This is higher than the expected increase in processed output of value chains of 40 per cent.
Project beneficiaries’ feedback
John Omeiza Sariki, Cluster Chairman of Oku Obanyi in Hihima Okehi local government area of Kogi State said, before the intervention from APPEAL, they were getting about N300,000 per hectare, but currently, the price of cassava has increased to about N50,000 per tonne.
Saraki said APPEALS started supporting them in 2020, adding that the cluster has two groups that cultivated 43 hectares of cassava farm with the support of the project.
“Before APPEALS came, we were cultivating about four to five hectares, and we were using local farm implements. The project helped us with ploughing, harrowing and ridges for the 43 hectares and supported us with farm inputs.
“They facilitated the provision of herbicides, fertilizers and provided us with tricycle, cutlass, wheelbarrow, knapsack sprayer and other things. They trained us on how to apply fertilizer, how to plant cassava stems and the management of farms. We are expecting from 25 tons to 30 tons per hectare before we were getting just 10 tons per hectare”.
Another beneficiary, Sarah Ameh who is a rice farmer in Chakaruku, Kogi local government of Kogi State, said their yield had increased drastically following the strict adherence to the good agronomic practices taught them by Kogi APPEALS.
Mohammed Zakari, one of the farmers, said before the intervention of APPEALS, they were farming manually and the yield was very small. He said they used to farm one hectare of rice per person, but after the intervention of the project, each person now cultivates three to four hectares of rice.
“Before, each hectare gives you 20 bags of rice paddy, but after taking us through some good agronomic practices and facilitating for us the necessary farm inputs, we now harvest about 50 bags of rice paddy per hectare,” he said.
He further explained When we sell our rice to off-takers, some use the money to build houses, buy motors and send our children to schools.
“We have six groups which comprise 10 persons, and each group cultivate an average of 20 hectares with the intervention of the project,” he said.
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