The Lagos State government has promised to sustain the Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement, and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project in the state even after the completion of the partnership with the World Bank.
The State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, made this pledge while speaking during a courtesy visit to his official residence at Osborne Ikoyi by the delegations of the World Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the National Coordination Unit of the APPEALS Project.
The APPEALS project is a six-year project that runs between 2017 and 2023 to enhance the agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers and improve value addition along priority value chains in the six participating states of Lagos, Enugu, Cross River, Kano, Kaduna, and Kogi states.
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The project has five components, including production and productivity enhancement, primary processing and value addition, infrastructure support, technical assistance, and project management, to ensure effective management and coordination of the project for proper accomplishment of project-related goals.
Dr. Hamzat disclosed that the decision of the state was based on the various successes recorded within the six years of implementing the APPEALS Project in Nigeria, and particularly in Lagos State.
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He noted that the project has been very successful in the state by enhancing the agricultural productivity of small and medium-scale farmers and improving value addition in Poultry, aquaculture, and Rice, adding that sustaining the APPEALS project will help Lagos get in line with the happenings around the world.
“Though the project is coming to an end, the state government will sustain it; we are here to discuss the exit plan, and hence the state will now find a way to keep it up, sustain the legacy, make sure that the beneficiaries don’t face off, and how to push in new beneficiaries into it,” Hamzat said.
