Benin City – The Edo State Agricultural Development Project (ADP) has urged farmers not to be motivated only by the quest to host or partake in agricultural fairs as basis for production but seeking means to increase production and selling such to make profit.
Speaking exclusively with THE NIGERIAN OBSERVER yesterday, the Acting Project Manager of the ADP, Mr. Aikhuomobhogbe Peter Uipia said farmers should pay paramount attention to meeting best practices, increasing production beside keying in on provided contacts to avoid exploitation by market shylocks.
The Project Manager stated that working through other agricultural independent bodies such as the Fadama 111; International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); FGN/NDDC Community Based Natural Resource Management-Niger Delta (CBNRMP-ND), the Edo State ADP has been able to form co-operative societies for farmers through which a rural information programme was put in place to train members on financial literacy and how to access credit.
The ADP, he stated, has helped farmers with the requisite technology for small holders, dissemination of agricultural information which helps in accessing funds better, and positioned such farmers to meet the specifications and standards of prevailing markets which has taken such farmers into social and economic ventures.
Unlike difficulties faced by other agricultural bodies in retrieving accessed loans, the Project Manager stated that due to the level of capacity building, they no longer view such loans as their share of the national cake but pay back as and when due.
He further maintained that over 70% of farmers supported have paid back into the community account aside also paying back to financial institutions due to the level of financial literacy received and also due to the knowledge that prompt payment of the counterpart fund opened the way to access funds.
