No fewer than 270,000 farmers in Kaduna State will be benefitting from the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) consortium project in the next three years. The project, which started in 2018, is aimed at uplifting smallholder-farmers’ livelihood in Kaduna State through market driven up-scaling of maize, rice and soybeans value chains.

The project coordinator, AGRA, Isaac Eni, who disclosed this in Kaduna, said the purpose of the farmers field school was to train them on how to use modern techniques.

He added that the platform had also availed the farmers the opportunity to create a market place for the sale of their produce after harvest, through the help of AGRA.

“The two techniques we have adopted to empower farmers are through the classroom and field demonstration as we are doing here today,” Eni said. The project coordinator also explained that one of the objectives of the project is to improve the income generation of the farmers. One of the beneficiaries, Friday Daniel, who demonstrated his acquired skills on the field, said he would forever be grateful to the AGRA for the training. It was gathered that the project was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to boost the capacity of Nigerian farmers.

SOURCE: DAILY TRUST