Godwin Obaseki, Edo State governor on Thursday flagged off the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) programme to support over 12,494 smallholder farmers across the state with farm Inputs.
The governor, while presenting the farm inputs in the Umuegbe community in the Oredo Local Government Area of the state, said the initiative was designed to provide critical support to farmers and enhance food security in the state.
Represented by Peter Aikhuomobhogbe, permanent secretary, Edo State ministry of agriculture and natural resources, said the N-CARES programme domesticated in Edo and codenamed EDO-CARES would also support 3,341 smallholder farmers with priority on providing small irrigation.
To strengthen the drive for food security, he said “we will be distributing inputs to smallholder farmers across the value chains of cassava, poultry, and fisheries.”
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The inputs distributed include 1,200 cassava stems, 180 poultry feeds, fish feeds, fertilisers, herbicides, 3,000 day-old chicks, 3,000 fingerlings/juveniles, 39 farm kits, and 60 poultry vaccines among others.
“We will also empower them with micro, small agro-processors such as cassava and rice mills, maize sheller, grain silos, blast freezers, and other storage facilities,” Obaseki said.
Ifueko Alufohai, state coordinator of EDO-CARES, on her part, said the initiative is part of efforts to lessen the negative impacts of COVID-19 on poor households.
Alufohai advised the beneficiaries to make good use of the inputs to create wealth for themselves.
