By Daniel Tyokua
The Federal Capital Territory has advised farmers to adopt new farming strategies to increase the market value of their products, incomes and standard of living.
Acting Secretary Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat of FCTA, Mr. Ibe Prospect Chukwuemeka gave this charge during a capacity building workshop on Agribusiness Development organised for Rural Women, Youth farmers, Entrepreneurs and Cooperative Societies in Gwagwalada Area Council, recently.
Chukwuemeka who was represented at the event by the Director Planning Research and statistics in the Agric Secretariat, Mr. Yahaya Husseini said the event was organised to train farmers on how to move agricultural practices from just mere production to investment in value chain.
In a statement issued on Monday by Zakari Aliyu, Deputy Director Information of ARDS, said the new farming technology if adopted will help increase the earnings of farmers and make them self reliant.
He said, “there is no aspect of Agriculture that is not lucrative as long as our farmers efficiently channel their resources on the right investments and avoid wastages of products that could be easily transformed to other uses”
While re-echoing the need for farmers to form cooperative groups to enable them reap the benefits of not only easily accessing support but also pooling their resources together for bigger investment.
He assured the farmers of the commitment of FCT Administration under the leadership of the Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello and the Hon. Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu to create the opportunities that will help them grow in their various businesses
In his remarks, Director Department of Cooperative and Rural Development, Mr. Innocent Ajaefobi emphasized the role of small holder farmers being played in quest to achieving food security stressing that the workshop will afford participants an opportunity to acquire practical skills to facilitate the growth of their various Agricultural vocations.
Mr. Omole Olateju, Deputy Director and Desk Officer, Rural Economy and Financing in the Agric Secretariat disclosed that the programme which has been carefully designed to address the immediate challenges faced by rural famers will dwell on topics such as Agribusiness plan, the concept of Agricultural value chain development for rural Agro-preneurs, importance of record keeping in agribusinesses, credit/insurance support for small holder rural Agro-enterprise amongst others. In an interview, one of the participants, Alhaji Suleiman Ajayi thanked the FCT Administration for organising the programme which he said was timely in view of the current global economic crisis which has affected a lot of small businesses.
He said the programme will expose farmers to new trends and useful information that will enable them take informed decisions that will help their businesses grow.
