The United Kingdom government, under UK International Development, has set aside 95 million Pounds for sustainable economic growth, improved climate resilience, and increased incomes for four million smallholder farmers by addressing challenges in the country’s food and land-use systems.
This was disclosed by the Propcom+ Country Representative, Dr. Adiya Ode, during a meeting with civil society organizations and media at Three Star Hotel in Dutse, Jigawa State. The new Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) funded climate and agriculture program in Nigeria will span eight years and cover several states in the country.
The country representative mentioned that 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.
According to her, “Propcom+ is set to support sustainable economic growth, improve climate resilience, and increase incomes for smallholder farmers by addressing challenges in the country’s food and land-use systems.”
She noted, “The program aims to support up to four million people, with 50% of them being women, to adopt and scale sustainable agricultural practices that increase productivity, income, and climate resilience while reducing emissions and protecting natural ecosystems.”
Dr. Adiya Ode maintained that the Propcom+ program reinforces the UK Government’s commitment to working with the Government of Nigeria to deepen investment in the agricultural sector by helping the vulnerable build resilience and adapt to the effects of climate change.
“It will do this by working through strategic market actors to increase the productivity of smallholder farmers, improve nutrition and food security, enhance climate resilience, pursue lower emissions, and protect and restore nature, while also tackling some of Nigeria’s underlying drivers of conflict and insecurity,” Ode said.
The country representative emphasized that the program has initial focal states in Kano, Jigawa, and Kaduna in the North West, and Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states in the North East 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.
The program will also work in key states in Southern Nigeria where it will address key issues around deforestation, foster sustainable land-use management through landscape-level interventions while supporting communities to manage forest reserves and strengthen landscape governance.
Dr. Ode said that, among other things, the program is looking to support smallholders to access innovations and technology such as labor-saving devices that reduce drudgery in crop production.
“The program also seeks to support scale-up and investment in the last-mile delivery of animal health vaccines, support the commercialization of bio-fortified crops to improve nutrition, and increase access to climate-smart crop varieties that will help farmers build resilience to climate change and improve their productivity,” she stated.
Furthermore, Dr. Ode mentioned that Propcom+ builds on the UK Government’s investment in agriculture through the Propcom Mai-karfi program, which 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.
The Propcom+ program was announced last August by the UK’s Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, as part of the UK International Climate Finance program aimed at supporting climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture and forestry that benefit people, climate, and nature.
The eight-year program, which kicked off in May 2023, is implemented by The Palladium Group and is currently in its inception phase until January 2024.
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