Increasing agricultural output to achieve food security and invariably exportation of more agricultural produce was the central message this week when the 4th Implementation Support Mission (ISM) of the Agro Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Support (APPEALS) started in Lagos. The Mission in Lagos, which ends tomorrow, has Kogi and Lagos as participating states, and was led by Adetunji Oredipe, World Bank senior agriculture economist and task team Leader of the APPEALS Project.
As part of the Mission in Lagos, the team will embark on field visits to identified clusters in the priority value chains at locations in Ikorodu and Badagry to wrap up the exercise which has previously held in two locations – Kaduna (for Kaduna and Kano State Coordinating Offices) and in Calabar (for Cross River and Enugu State Coordinating Offices) respectively.
At the end of the Mission, a draft Aide Memoire which captures the outcome of deliberations is expected to be presented and discussed with the Government.
“My idea of the Implementation Support Mission in the World Bank is to let you know that we are in this together,” said Oredipe. “We are not here on an evaluation mission. We are here to support you.”
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Oredipe in a statement, harped on the need for all project activities to be focused on the key development objectives for which the priority value chains were selected. He explained the Project must be able to show results that demonstrate in tangle forms, how its activities have contributed to food security, agro exports promotion and the improvement of livelihoods for beneficiaries.
The APPEALS Project has eleven priority value chains: Cassava, Rice, Wheat, Cocoa, Ginger, Poultry, Aquaculture, Dairy, Maize, Cashew and Tomato. The value chains were selected from the priority value chains of the Federal Government’s Agriculture Promotion Policy (2016 – 2020), also known as the ‘Green Alternative’.
The project aims at supporting the transition of small subsistence farmers’ production system farming (1-5 hectares) to a market-oriented agricultural undertaking and supporting middle-size farmers (5-10 hectares) to address constraints facing them and enhancing their productivity as well as effective participation in the Value Chains.
“The purpose of the Mission is to map out ways to move faster than we are moving now and to demonstrate possibilities for agribusiness, increase contribution to GDP and contribute meaningfully to economic growth,” said Amin Mohammed Babandi, the national project coordinator, represented by Adekunle Adesoye the national monitoring & evaluation specialist.
He expressed optimism that at the end of this Mission, there would be a workable plan that addresses the development of the priority value chains within the next 12 months.
