Fifty-seven agriculture cooperative societies in Enugu State have received over N400m as grant from the World Bank under the Agro Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support project.
The Coordinator of the APPEALS Project Christian Odigbo, during an implementation workshop for the beneficiaries in Enugu on Tuesday, said the grant was to enhance adoption of technology in agriculture.
Odigbo hinted that the farmers would not receive the grant in cash, but through farm inputs, which they had requested through an approved business plan.
“This is not a loan; it is a grant so they are not expected to pay back. The payment goes to the service providers, who will supply them all the items they requested in their business plan. Some of the cooperatives would receive N10m while some will receive N13m based on their needs and capacity,” he said.
The Communication Officer of APPEALS in Enugu, Ambrose Igboke, explained that the state government facilitated the project through the payment of counterpart fund to support farmers in different value chains.
“The project is courtesy of the World Bank, Enugu State Government and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
“Enugu, the only state in the South East that has the APPEALS project, paid N244m as counterpart fund, a prerequisite for the project to be operational in the state,” he said.
Igboke stressed that the target is to improve interest in agriculture and increase yield by over 100 per cent before the programme ends in 2023.
“Our objective is to enhance agricultural productivity of small and medium scale farmers, and improve value addition along priority value chains. The project also has dedicated sub-components to benefit women and children,” he added.
He said the state government was intervening in three agricultural value chains – poultry, cashew and rice.
Some of the beneficiaries said at the event that they had started receiving input from certified suppliers and commended the state government for embarking on the project, to save them from the rigours of obtaining bank loans.
