By Ahmad Alabira Dutse
The United Kingdom government, under UK International Development programme (Propcom) has set aside £95m pounds to support about 4 million smallholders farmers across Nigeria.
The programme is aimed at sustaining the economic growth, improved climate resilience seeds, increase income as well as address challenges in the country’s food and land-use systems.
The Propcom Country Representative, Dr. Adiya Ode disclosed this on Friday during a stakeholders’ meeting in Dutse, Jigawa state capital.
Present at the stakeholders’ meeting were the civil society organisation, farmers and media.
“The new Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) funded climate and agriculture programme in Nigeria will spend eight years to cover several states in the country.
“The FCDO has approved the release of £55 million Pounds for the first three years of the project, subject to review and meeting set targets.
“The program is to support up to 4 million people, with 50% of them being women, to adopt and scale sustainable agricultural practices that increase productivity, income, reduce emissions and protecting natural ecosystems”, Dr Ode said.
She added that the Propcom programme reinforces the UK Government’s commitment to working with the Government of Nigeria on Agriculture and climate change resilience.
“It will do this by working through strategic market actors to increase the productivity of smallholder farmers, improve nutrition and food security.
“It also enhances climate resilience, pursue lower emissions, protect and restore nature, while tackling some of Nigeria’s underlying drivers of conflict and insecurity”, she added.
Ode emphasized that the programme has initial focal states in Kano, Jigawa, and Kaduna in the North West, and Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states in the North East.
“This is to address critical issues around animal health vaccination, bio-fortified and climate-smart crop variety, innovative and digital financial services.
“ICT-based tools for extension, and climate-smart agricultural technologies and innovations”, she stated.
Dr. Ode mentioned that Propcom builds on the UK Government’s investment in agriculture through the Propcom Mai-karfi program.
“This Programme ended in March 2022, after supporting over 1.25 million people with improved incomes through key market reforms and policies that benefited poor women and men in Northern Nigeria”, she concluded.
