The Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), says it will partner with agriculture extension service workers in Delta to drive project for result.
The LIFE-ND, a Federal Government agricultural flagship programme, is co-sponsored by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and State governments in the region.
The State Coordinator, LIFE-ND, Mr Collins Ashoro stated this at a one-day Workshop for Delta State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (DARDA) /Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) Stakeholders on Extension Service Delivery in Asaba.
He said that the training would enable the LIFE-ND partner the extension advisors(workers) to reach beneficiaries of the project through relevant advocacy in 10 Local Government Areas of the state.
Ashoro said that 20 agricultural extension workers who participated in the workshop would be deployed on demand to reach the LIFE-ND beneficiaries in four commodities; fisheries, poultry, cassava and oil palm production and processing in 100 communities in selected LGAs.
“This workshop is to further the need for us to collaborate with the ADP because we are aware that you have capacity to create the needed advocacy around the four commodities.
” Recently, we have collaboration with the ADP in nutrition, where we introduce Women in Agriculture to have nutrition guided in their food.
“As we speak, activities are on in the field that has to do with introducing mix vegetable garden to 90 beneficiaries and as they are been established, we expect that expertise is needed to guide them to maintain and continue to do the cropping.
He charged the participants to take the training serious and always armed themselves with requisite knowledge to give the necessary support to farmers.
” So, you must be prepared and ensure that you don’t give wrong information because it could lead to crop failure and colossal damage to the products.
“As an extension advisors, everything you do to the farmers should be apt and correct and I must say that we in the LIFE-ND, we do not have enough man power, so, we are relying on you the extension workers to give the support we needed.
” The LIFE-ND project has a sub-component 1.4 which has to do with strengthening of institutions and building capacity cadre and enterprise groups in areas of operation which also include building capacity of the ADP too.
“The office will be doing remuneration when need arise and your services will be demand driven and you will be operating in 10 LGAs in 100 communities where our project beneficiaries are.On his part, Mr Charles Mordi, Programme Manager, DARDA, charged the participants to get abreast with modern farm practices to adequately deliver quality extension services to the farmers.
According to him, the state government will soon start a monthly training for the extension officers to keep equip them with requisite knowledge’s to support the rural farmers.
He challenged the officers to always have a recourse to the head office instead of giving wrong advise to the farmers.
In her overview, Mrs Paula Omare, Rural Institution Gender Officer (RIGYO), LIFE-ND, said that the project was on in six states of the NIger Delta.
According to her, the project adopted the incubator and incubatees model to train the beneficiaries in the four selected commodities; fisheries, Poultry, cassava and oil palm production and processing.
She said that the project was gender sensitive and that beneficiaries were trained, supported and exposed to finances and to markets to enable them survive at the exit of the project.
“The essence of this workshop is capture in the LIFE-ND sub-component 1.4 which is rural institution strengthening; this will benefit farmers group, community based organisations, ADPs enterprise groups, among others
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