The Federal Government and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has promised to assist poor farmers in Anambra State with agricultural inputs worth N20 million of which the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Forster Ihejiofor said the funding would be done through the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP).
Speaking during the flag off of the programme at Ogbaru local government area, the Commissioner explained that the inputs would be distributed to poor rural farmers across the participating local government areas of the state.
According to him, the programme would help to boost agriculture, adding that after this year’s distribution, Anambra would migrate from artificial manure to organic agriculture, as this he said would help to save the cost of agricultural produce and make room for larger production. He commended the federal government and IFAD, for their continued support to rural farmers in the country.
The national programme coordinator of FG/IFAD-VCDP, Dr. Fatima Aliyu, who spoke through Mr Felix Oibiokpa explained that the federal government and IFAD were concerned about the farmers welfare and had put together the Rural Poor Stimulus Facilities (RPSF) to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 pandemic.