The Agro-Processing Productivity Enhancement And Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) has selected not less than 10,200 Women and Youth for training on all value chains and business modules on agribusinesses.
Meanwhile, the Project Coordinating Unit (PCU) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has written to 21 additional states that have expressed interest to participate in APPEALS Project to provide evidence of meeting the criteria for participation.
According to information made available on Tuesday, twelve out of these states “will be admitted as additional states to participate in the project”.
Already, the project has trained 2,535 male, and 2,978 females in eleven agricultural value chains in five participating states of Cross-river, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi and Lagos.
Providing highlights of the 5th implementation support mission, the team explained that all the states have advanced on the implementation of activities under the Women and Youth Empowerment Programme (WYEP).
A statement issued by National Communication Specialist, Aishat A. Onusi explained that WYEP beneficiaries were primarily trained on the value chain (production/processing etc) and on the preparation of Business Investment Plans(BIPs), carried out across the states.
Part of the statement read: “A total of 1,500 BusinessInvestment Plans (BIPs) have been submitted by trained beneficiaries and the review of this batch of BIPs is currently going on.
“The project is also supporting the WYEP beneficiaries in registering their business names for their enterprises in collaboration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
“So far, a total of 554 People With Disability and Special Needs, PWDSNs (Cross Rriver-98, Kaduna-85, Kano-100, Kogi-101, Lagos-170) have been identified and selected for project support under the WYEP. Needs assessment for these identified PWDSNs is ongoing across the states.
“In collaboration with the Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL) of the World Bank, a Covid-19 socio-emotional response intervention survey, targeting the trained WYEP beneficiaries was designed and delivered through the virtual platform.
“The intervention is designed to provide a combination of emotional awareness and socio-emotional skills that is key in responding to emotional, social and economic impacts of Covid-19 pandemic”.
Making reference to its Commodity Aggregation and Cottage Processing, the statement explained that identification of existing cottage processing centre is on-going in the participating states and “beneficiary needs assessment is being conducted to ascertain the status of the post-harvest processing facilities.
“In Kogi state, 22 Cassava farm clusters, five Rice farm clusters and two Cashew cluster have been identified for possible support.
“For Cottage processing centers, five rice processing groups, 35 Clusters of Cassava processing centre and five Cashew processing centres have been identified. The identified centres require upgrade to modern and safe processing methods and technology application for improved and efficient production.
“Infrastructural interventions such as access roads, and smart energy such as solar power are some of the areas being identified in the production and processing clusters of the six implementing states.
“APPEALS is synergising with the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) to explore areas of collaboration with the project in respect of providing market and road infrastructure support to Agribusiness clusters across the participating states.
“In Lagos State, Reconnaissance survey and verification of the infrastructure needs assessment was conducted on some clusters.
“The project has continued to improve the capacity of project staff as well as farmers and other stakeholders. Within the period under review, the following trainings/workshop were conducted:
Training of 300 extension workers on Good Agricultural Practice, GAP, MIS and climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive technologies in Kano State.
Workshop on Work-place ethics and use of modern-day office technologies for Administrative Officer, Training Officer, 3Nos VCFs, Finance Officer, Assistant Project Accountant and the Project Secretary in the Six PIUs.
Support to Kano State Ministry of Agriculture and Kano State Agricultural & Rural Dev. Authority (KNARDA) to establish database for farmers and an E-Library.
Lagos State conducted capacity building of farmers/ Out-growers on Environmental and Social Issues, preparation of Business Plan and efficient record keeping.
Kogi Stateconducted training of beneficiaries onthe use of GPS/GIS for tracking of project intervention; occupational safety & health and first aid management.
Cross-Riverconductedtraining of farmers on effective cooperative formation within the mapped-out farming clusters across the 3 value chains of Cocoa, Rice and Poultry. A total of 610 farmers were trained 4(74 were Males and 136 Females).
Meanwhile, the statement explained that the project has continued to actively engage with stakeholders and beneficiaries across media genres – Print, Electronic and Online media.
“This has helped to provide adequate coverage and enhance visibility for project activities; promote effective, informed and transparent dialogue amongst all stakeholders.
“In this regard, the Project has been prominently featured on Television and Radio programmes; Newspaperspublications (hardcopy and online) and has had a robust Social Media presence.
“Several Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials have been developed across the Project Implementation Units (PIUs) and disseminated to enhance knowledge-sharing amongst all stakeholders; and bridge communication and knowledge gaps.
“In response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the challenge posed to the traditional workspace, the project has established a virtual communication platform for rapid information dissemination and knowledge sharing to fast-track project implementation across the Project Implementation Units and enhance collaboration with relevant institutions.
“To fast-track project implementation, the National Coordination Office constituted and trained members of an Integrated Implementation Support Teams (IIST) put together with the objective of identifying, verifying and validating the existing production, processing and marketing clusters/Commodity Interest Groups in the States.
“The primary objective is to assist the beneficiaries in the development and preparation of viable and fundable value chain investment plan/business investment plan.
“The Monitoring &Evaluation and Management Information System continued to carry out information and data collection activities, conducted surveys such as baseline survey and compiled reports, (monthly, quarterlyand annual reports) as and when due.
“Substantial progress has been made in the development of Enterprise Records and digitization of data collection processes.
“Grievance Redress Committees have been set up in the states to address all grievance issues which may arise during project implementation. Important structures are also being put in place to address Gender Based Violence (GBV) issues.
“The Mission’s preliminary findings and recommendations were discussed in a virtual wrap-up meeting on July 10, 2020. The Meeting was chaired by Director, International Economic Relations Department (IERD), Mr. Felix OgarOdey representing the Federal Ministry of Finance”.
Providing more highlights of the 5th implementation support mission, the team said: “The 5th Joint Federal Government of Nigeria/World Bank Implementation Support Supervision Mission of the Agro-processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) was conducted from June 8 – 11, 2020using the virtual platform.
“The mission was led by World Bank Senior Agriculture Economist and Task Team Leader, APPEALS, Dr.AdetunjiOredipe, with other members of the Mission from the World Bank. The Mission was coordinated by the National Project Coordinator – Mr. Mohammed Sani Jobdi.Other participantsincluded the APPEALS National Coordinating Office and all Project Implementation Units of the six participating states; Representatives of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, FMARD; Federal Ministry of Finance; FMARD Projects Coordinating Unit, PCU; State Steering/Technical Committees and other stakeholders.
Objectives of the Mission
The main objective of the mission was to assess overall implementation progress across all the project components along with the action plan agreed at the December 2019 mission. Specific objectives were to (i) Dialogue with key state government official and review progress achieved in implementation of the project activities against all the component since the last mission, (ii) Review the implementation status of the women and youth empowerment program and support to Commodity Interest Groups (CIGs) (iii) review project compliance to fiduciary and safeguard issues including action plan on Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) System. (iv) assess the impact of Corona virus (Covid-19) on implementation activities with the aim of re-strategizing and agreeing on how best to ensure the projects stays on track to meet key deliverables and (v) agree with government and the APPEALS Coordination office on an action plan to facilitate project implementation over the next six month, and on the required actions and activities that would further facilitate the achievement of the project development objectives.
Key Findings & Progress of Implementation
Performance Rating:
The mission noted that there was progress made in the implementation of the recommendations agreed at the 4th Mission;with significant improvements on project performance across all the participating states. As at June 30, 2020, the disbursement ratewas 30%, with a total of 277 Value Chain Investment Plans (VCIPs) prepared reviewed and approved for implementation by the beneficiaries. Overall, project performance towards its Project Development Objective was rated satisfactory.
Summary of Implementation Progress:
Production and Productivity Enhancement
Business Alliances and Out-grower Scheme: A total of 55 Alliances (off-taker/out-growers) involving nine (9No) value chains have been documented. Mapping of Production clusters are being carried out across the states, Enugu has mapped 68 production clusters (Cashew 11, Poultry 52, rice 5), In Kogi State, A total of 159 Commodity Interest Groups (CIGs) comprising 61CIGs for rice, 44CIGs for cassava and 54CIGS for cashew were mapped and geo-referenced across 23 clusters in the state. Seven (7) clusters, nine (9) clusters and seven (7) clusters were for rice, cassava and cashew respectively across the state.
Technology Demonstration and Adoption: A total of 64 climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive technologies (85.3% against year 3 target) have been demonstrated to farmers in the participating states since project inception. These demonstrations were done in collaboration with relevant institutions across the country. Majority of the beneficiaries have indicated interest in the adoption of these technologies.
