• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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OCP Africa, ABU Zaria collaborate to launch Agribooster Campus Offer

farmers

OCP Africa, global producer and exporter of phosphate based fertilisers and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria have collaborated to launch an Agribooser Campus Offer initiative to boost maize production in the country.

The initiative which is an intervention program will provide support to 5,000 maize farmers within the university and its immediate environs.

As part of the launching of this program, the Faculty of Agriculture ABU Zaria nominated 15 of its postgraduate students to be trained and equipped by OCP Africa on agriculture extension skills in order to reach the target 5,000 farmers, teaching them best practices in the application of various farm inputs to maximize their yield in maize cultivation.

“Agribooster Campus Offer is the first of its kind for Nigerian universities and we will provide the farmers with key inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, and agro-chemicals. We will fund the project through our partner- ABU Microfinance Bank Limited and training for the postgraduate extension workers who will, in turn, train the farmers,” Caleb Usoh, country manager of OCP Africa, said during the launch.

“We are very positive that this program will significantly expand the yields of these farmers, based on the quality of the seeds and fertilizers we have brought in. The students who are going to become agri-promoters in the different villages where these 5,000 framers are operating will create awareness for them in the proper use of farm inputs,” Usoh said.

“With this intervention by OCP Africa and its partners, the farmers will be able to get the right types of fertilizers and other critical inputs in sufficient quantities, and at the right time,” he added.

Also speaking, Olufunmilola Alabi, a professor and dean – Faculty of Agriculture, ABU Zaria said that the University is glady that OCP Africa has chosen the institution to roll out its agriboooster campus initiative.

“The selected postgraduate students are being trained to become extension workers who will work with the farmers within our immediate environs. We expect that this intervention would increase the maize yield drastically for the farmers concerned, and it will translate into more money for them,” Alabi said.

Abdulkadir Kasim, permanent secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Kaduna State, and representative of the state governor at the event, expressed optimism that Agribooster Campus Offer will be a powerful complement towards the transformation of agriculture in Kaduna state.

“We congratulate the company and its partners for putting together this intervention which will ultimately help our state to move agriculture away from subsistence levels and make it a more profitable business,” he said.

Elijah Ogunshola, one of the selected postgraduate extension workers who spoke with journalists said that the training he has undergone under the programme has further deepened his capacity.

“It is high time we brought our local farmers up to speed with modern practices, and by God’s grace, we will try our best to see that we put a smile on the farmers face, helping them to make farming a more profitable venture than what they are used to,” Ogunshola said.

 

Josephine Okojie