Senator Iroegbu
25 March 2009
Abuja — The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) - a United Nations organ - has unveiled plans to support cassava production in the country, with a sum of $10 million (N2 billion), under the Root & Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP) of the Federal Government.
IFAD Regional Portfolio Adviser for West and Central Africa, Mr. Perecent Ange, revealed this in a statement made available in Abuja.
According to the statement, Ange - who had just concluded an inspection tour on a Field Mission to assess the impact of the RTEP in Nigeria - said the new spending plan on cassava production is in addition to a similar amount already spent on the production since inception.
"To this end, about 300 mini cassava processing centers are to be established in the country in addition to the two hundred and twenty in existence. Under the initiative, three integrated cassava plants are to be established in three states in the country. They are Ogun, Kogi and Imo states respectively", Ange said.
He added "The Mini cassava processing centres are to be located in 25 states and the Federal Capital Territory, which the Root and Tuber Expansion Programme of the Federal Government covers."
The IFAD Adviser, who inspected the Integrated Cassava plant in Ode Remo in Ogun state, pledged the assistance of IFAD towards the completion of the project, initiated by the Remo North Local Government Area (LGA) before the end of July this year.
"He called on Imo and Kogi state government to fast track the construction of Integrated Cassava plants in the area" adding that, "the plant when completed would put an end to cassava glut and make farmers more responsive to their business" the statement said.
The statement further quoted the Programme manager of RTEP, Alhaji Ola Jimoh, as saying that, "RTEP is a follow up to the successfully implemented Cassava Multiplication Programme (CMP)".
The states to benefit from the project, mainly from the root and tubers growing belt include, Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara, Imo, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Taraba states.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
