Food security tops agenda at APPEALS project implementation support mission

Food security was the area of focus during the World Bank-FGN joint 4th Implementation Support Mission (ISM) of the APPEALS Project held in Lagos.

The Mission, led by World Bank Senior Agriculture Economist and Task Team Leader of the APPEALS Project, Dr Adetunji Oredipe has as participants, the Project Implementation Units, PIUs of Kogi and Lagos State Coordination Offices; National Coordination Office, Officials of the World Bank; Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Federal Ministry of Finance and other stakeholders.

Speaking on the Mission Objectives and Guidelines today in Lagos, the Task Team Leader, Dr Oredipe said “my idea of the Implementation Support Mission in the World Bank is to let you know that we are in this together.

“We are not here on an evaluation mission.

“We are here to support you. I urge you all to freely express your minds on ways to advance the Project to successful implementation.”

ALSO READ:IITA commended for efforts on digital agriculture

Dr Oredipe harped on the need for all Project activities to be focused on the key development objectives of the Project for which the priority value chains were selected, adding that the Project must be able to showcase results that demonstrate in tangle forms, how its activities have contributed to food security, agro exports promotion and the improvement of livelihoods for beneficiaries.

The National Project Coordinator, Dr Amin Mohammed Babandi, represented by the National Monitoring & Evaluation Specialist, Mr Adekunle Adesoye, noted that “the purpose of the Mission is to map out ways to move faster than we are moving now and to demonstrate possibilities for agribusiness, increase contribution to GDP and contribute meaningfully to economic growth.

“It is expected that at the end of this Mission, we should come up with a workable work plan that addresses the development of the priority value chains within the next 12 months”

Former Task Team Leader Dr Sheu Salau in his remarks urged the Project Implementation Units, (PIUs) to bear in mind, the result framework of the project and to ensure that for every activity embarked upon, the activities are gauged in relation to how far it will take the project closer to its targets results.

The two participating states in the mission presented their implementation reports to show progress made so far in the respective states along their priority value chains.

As part of the Mission in Lagos, the team will embark on field visits to identified clusters in the priority value chains at locations in Ikorodu and Badagry to wrap up the exercise which has previously held in two locations – Kaduna (for Kaduna and Kano State Coordinating Offices) and in Calabar (for Cross River and Enugu State Coordinating Offices) respectively.