The Agro Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) has registered 484 business names with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Kaduna State.
Women and Youth Livelihood Specialist, Ibrahim Yakubu, disclosed this during a review meeting of progress report on the implementation of WYEP in Kaduna on Thursday.
The meeting was conducted by the Technical Assistance for the preparation and review of Business Investment Plan (BIP) for WYEP beneficiaries in the state.
Yakubu explained that 1,700 people were expected to benefit from the project.
According to him, 50 per cent of the beneficiaries under the component are females.
He explained that the value chain under the component included dairy, maize, rice, wheat, cashew and ginger among others.
He said that the objective of the project was to attract more people to farming in Nigeria.
The specialist added that the selection process of the beneficiaries started with sensitisation in the 23 local government areas of the state in 2019.
This was followed by the placement of advertisements in two national dailies and electronic as well as on social media.
According to him, free applicants forms were distributed to interested individuals while their biometric data of more than 3,000 applicants were capture.
Out of these applications, 1,700 were selected for verification and screening through a transparent process.
Yakubu said that engagement letters were issued successful beneficiaries in December 2019.
He explained that some of the beneficiaries were trained at three different centres.
“Those who were not trained due to outbreak of COVID-19 would be trained in November 2020.
“The BIP preparation and review cuts across Zaria, Kafanchan and Kaduna zones in the state,’’ Yakubu saidnan.
