The International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD) through the VCDP, a joint initiative with the Federal Government is set to train 96,000 farmers on financial management.
This was stated by the Niger State Coordinator, IFAD Values Chain Development Program (VCDP), Dr. Matthew Ahmed at the stakeholders’ workshop on financial knowledge for the IFAD VCDP workers and farmers’ leaders in Bida.
Dr. Ahmed said most farmers do not have details of their business activities, which has made it hard for them to get financing opportunities. He equally said their inadequate exposure to cashless policy has made access susceptible to fraud.
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While stating similar training will be held in Makurdi and Abakaliki at a later date, the Coordinator encouraged attendees to disseminate acquired knowledge to other members of their respective communities.
The German trainer and financial consultant, Dr. Michael Marx emphasized the need for saving culture among farmers, according to him the IFAD training will help farmers boost their incomes. The VCDP Rural Institution Gender and Rural Development Officer, Mr. Musa, said it is important for farmers to be aware of how to calculate their gain and loss.
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Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) is a six-year development initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria and IFAD designed to improve cassava and rice value chains among small scale farmers in the six states of Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Niger, Ogun, and Taraba.
The program is coordinated technically by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the State Ministry of Agriculture (MoAs).
VCDP value chain approach was developed to help improve farmers productivity agro-processing as a way of reducing rural poverty, increase food security and accelerate economic growth on a sustainable basis.
