Kogi govt to empower farmers, screen 3000, women, youths

The Kogi State coordination office of the Agro Processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) has successfully completed the screening of 3000 applicants for its Women and Youth Empowerment Programme (WYEP).

The screening exercise is part of the process of selecting eligible women and youths of the state interested in farming activities to participate in the ongoing Women and Youth Empowerment Programme of APPEALS project.

Addressing journalists at the event, the State Project Coordinator, Dr, Sanni Ozomata, said APPEALS project is a World Bank-Supported Agricultural project in collaboration with the federal and the Kogi State government to enhance the agricultural productivity of small and medium scale farmers and improve value addition along priority value chain of rice, cashew and cassava.

He said a major component of the project is the women and youth empowerment programme which seeks to empower women and youths interested in farming and agric-related activities that will lead to job creation, food security and equally improve export potential.

Dr. Ozomata told journalists that due process was followed in the interview process.

“We ensured that we carried out adequate publicity about the project, proper engagement with relevant stakeholders and strict adherence to the eligibility criteria as spelt out by the project.

“We gave out the forms for free and ensured that those who collected it were effectively captured and a database was created for them so as not to give room for impersonation and multiple collection of forms by the same person.

“Those who pass the interview process will then be mobilised for training in line with the value chain they applied for,” he said.