FADAMA III: FG gets $2.8m grant from Japan

The Federal Government has received a $2.8m grant from Japan Social Development Fund for its FADAMA III project.The amount, which was secured through the World Bank, is specifically meant to establish pilot Information and Communications Technology centres in some selected FADAMA communities in four states.The states are Lagos, Cross Rivers, Sokoto and Yobe.Speaking during the handover of the JSDF, the National Programme Coordinator, Mr. Daudu Daniel, said the objective of the programme was to establish sustainable information technology that would enable FADAMA information, knowledge and business advisory service centres.The move, according to him, will help to increase farm productivity and rural household incomes as well as provide useful information to enable farmers to participate equitably in the global markets.This, he noted, became imperative since a key issue with ICT in agriculture was to create a financially sustainable enterprise.The Country Director of the World Bank, Marie Francis Marie-Nelly; the Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Rynichi Shoji, were some of the notable personalities at the event.Daniel said, The project development objective is to increase the incomes of users of rural land and water resources on sustainable basis, thus contributing to the achievement of a key millennium development goal.The location and spread of participating farmers isolate most of them from effective markets, communication and other basic services. With this challenge, there is need to provide useful information to enable farmers to participate equitably in both national and global markets and make available appropriate technological choices for modern agriculture.He said the FADAMA Information and Knowledge Service project is the first to be implemented in Nigeria.The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Bukar Tijani, assured the donor that the fund would be effectively managed.He said that the move was timely, considering the Federal Governments commitment to boost agriculture in the country.
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