FG moves to enhance food security through ADP

The federal government says it aims to use the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP), to boost food production and unemployment.

This was made known in a keynote address by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar at the 2-day workshop for the 2022 National Agricultural Extension Development Committee meeting in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

He said the ADP approach will focus on the small-scale farmer as a vehicle for accelerating agricultural productivity, and stated that to achieve the objective, the ADP will be further strengthened for utmost performance.

ADP is a World Bank project, designed to reduce rural poverty and improves agricultural production through a community-based approach.

According to him, the ADP extension network has been adjudged as one of the best extension delivery methodology, adding that it has led to outstanding performances in increasing the production levels of some major crops, livestock and fisheries and improvement of rural livelihoods among others in general.

“The ADP as a semi-autonomous stable Project Management Unit had stable funding arrangement, the World Bank provided 66% of total project cost contributed in civil works, plants vehicles, equipment, spare parts, training and consultancy; the Federal Government provided 19% input procurement, chemicals and pesticides while the benefiting State Governments provided 15% in salaries and general services, the loan drawdown was based on reimbursement other expenditure,” he said.

He noted, however, that dwindling resources, ageing manpower without replacement, dilapidated equipment, lack of capacity building and absence of political will by state governments and absence of a legislated agricultural extension policy in place to allow extension delivery, have militated against the agriculture extension service delivery.

“The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development under my leadership, believe that the restoration of the ADPs should be a priority to achieve our mandate of ensuring national food security as a means to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals 1 & 2 that is, poverty eradication and zero hunger,” he added.

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