The Benue state government, led by Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has commissioned 33 new tractors for use by farmers and disbursed a total of N380,000,000 to community interest groups to undertake climate-smart agricultural activities in the state.
Speaking at the event, Governor Alia reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to provide the needed support for farmers in the state for the overall good of the people in order to further boost agriculture and ensure food security in the state.
The project, which was executed under the Community Revolving Fund (CRF) scheme of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) scheme, was earlier supported by the governor with a donation of N1 billion (N1,000,000,000) as a counterpart fund for the ACReSAL program.
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The governor appreciated the relentless efforts of ACReSAL in safeguarding the environment, saying his government is proud to collaborate on a project of such consequence, designed to improve the lives of the people of Benue.
According to him, Benue has the capacity to feed not just the North Central or 19 Northern states but the entire Nigeria, and as such, his administration will keep complementing the efforts to enable Benue farmers to have far-reaching experience.
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Earlier, the Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank Nigeria office and the Task Team Lead for the ACReSAL project, Dr. Joy Iganya Ajene, said the team was in the state to assess, support, and look at the bottlenecks of the program in Benue, stating that they discovered no bottlenecks, an indication that the program has so far recorded great success in the state.
She commended the government of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia and the state ACReSAL team for playing their respective roles, saying Benue stands to gain more from the program. She urged the government to continue to strengthen the needed institutions in order to continue to gain more benefits.
