FCT FADAMA trains 121 youth, women in agriculture

Stories by John Oba Abuja

Th e FCT FADAMA three additional fi nancing project has promised to empower all the 121 youth and women trained in it enterprise development training of graduate unemployed support programme (GUYS) with a starter pack that would enable them take off in their venture. Addressing the trainees during the closing ceremony at the FCT College of Education last Friday, the FCT coordinator, Mr Salisu Danladi, said though 122 trainees were screened and selected for the training in the FCT, but that only one absentee was recorded adding that with the level of commitment on the part of the trainees, they would all benefi t from the starter packs.

Also, 27 were trained on crop production, 19 on fi sh production, two on grass cutter production, eight on livestock production, 46 on poultry and two on value addition. Th e minister of FCT, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, who was represented by the Secretary Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat FCTA, Mr Musa Aliu, charged the FCT FADAMA project to ensure eff ective supervision and adequate monitoring of the activities of the trained agro-preneurs after the establishment of their respective farm enterprises, saying this is to ensure the attainment of the cardinal objectives of the programme. “

” It s instructive to observe that the funding support that will be provided to these trained agro-preneurs goes beyond the creation of gainful employment and sustainable means of livelihoods t them alone, it triggers a deliberate process for the creation of several other jobs for diff erent categories of people along the agricultural value chain such as input dealers, marketers, processors, food vendors and farm labourers. “Th e FCT administration will on it part, continue to provide necessary support to these young agro-preneurs through our sustained eff orts for the creation of an enabling environment that facilitates the growth and development of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the territory, he said. Th e National Coordinator, Mr Tayo Adewumi, who was represented by Dr. Samuel Alabi, assured the trainees that in about two or three weeks time, the project will commence disbursement of funds to benefi ciaries across the country. “

Agriculture is time bound, so every that is supposed to be done within the specifi ed period. Because our job is to see you succeed, if you fail, that means we fail too. So we will provide all that we need to provide to ensure that you succeed. After the evaluation of your business plans, we will go into implementation.

We will doing a lot of monitoring, we are not going to leave you alone,” he said He said the minster of agriculture and rural development Chief Audu Ogbeh is committed to the project to ensure that it is successful. “And we are counting on you in the FCT to turn agriculture around. To add value to what the ministry is doing all over the nation. “Th e opportunity that has been trusted to you now is to see how you will contribute your own quarter in bring Nigeria out of recession.

“I could see that the 121 of you that has passed through this training in FCT in the last two weeks, some of you in crops, livestock, fi shery, agro-impute dealer, extension service providers. I want to assure you that everything FADAMA has promised to do, will be fulfi lled within the next two or three weeks. We all would come back to fl ag off the disbursement of the fund to benefi ciaries,” he said.

Th e Women leader, National Association of Nigeria Traders, (NANTS) Mrs RuthAbraham Agbo, who led some members of her association to the event, promised that the group will mentor some of the women among the trainees in trade and enterprise. Commending the FADAMA agroentrepreneur for successful training, she said though a beginning may be small but it should not be despised.

“Th e women has been oiling the wheel of the economy of this nation, we patch the gallop places, God has given us that mindset that in anything that we do, we don’t forget our families. If you give a woman, N10,000, she is looking at how to revolve it to make more money, but give a man N100,000, he will be thinking about how to marry another wife. So for the women trainees, this is another good skill for us that you are going to revolve whatever is given to you now. So we are collaborating with FADAMA project to mentor as many women as possible in trade and enterprise,” she assured.

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