In line with its mandate to de-risk agriculture and facilitate agribusiness in Nigeria, NIRSAL Plc has completed a mid-year capacity development programme for lead farmers and extension agents in the cassava value chain of Oyo State.

The train-the-trainer programme, which had over 500 participants in attendance, is intended to impact a further 25,000 farmers during the step-down phase.

NIRSAL used the programme to sensitise cassava farmers on its value chain-fixing solutions, especially the Agro Geo-Cooperative (AGC) model, which structures smallholder farmers cultivating in the same locations into financeable clusters with elaborate governance structures, thereby enhancing their capacity to access finance, inputs, and mechanisation services, optimise their harvests and produce aggregation, and boost their access to secured markets.

Speaking to the NIRSAL team on the first day of the event, the Oyo State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Olasunkanmi Olaleye, said the Ministry was in the middle of land preparation and input distribution for cassava production in the state.

He therefore thanked NIRSAL for supporting his ministry as they put Governor Seyi Makinde’s N1 billion Agro Support Fund to judicious use and expressed interest in working with NIRSAL to derive parameters for measuring the return on the governor’s investment in agriculture in the state.

Consistent with its mandate, NIRSAL’s training focused on boosting farmers’ capacity to access and repay commercial loans.

According to the lead trainer, Mr George Odiachi, through strong agro-geo-cooperatives, farmers are better positioned to order for and demand quality products and services from inputs and mechanisation providers, respectively.

The programme, which was held in two locations, drew participants from far and wide. In the Ibadan North Local Government Area, participants converged on Prince Akinremi Hall along the Samonda-UI road, while the Akinyele Local Government Hall hosted the event on Day 2.

At the Akinyele Local Government, the Chairman, Honourable Akinwole Ayobami Akinleye, thanked NIRSAL for arriving just in time to help the local government maintain its position as the food basket of Oyo State as they embark on the planting season.

Also present at the two-day event were the State Director of Extension Services, Mr. Abdulrasak Moruf; Director of Agric and Natural Resources, Akinyele Local Government, Alhaji Abiodun Ibikunle; as well as representatives from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, and the Alternative Bank.

Several lead farmers and cooperative leaders expressed delight in the programme, agreeing that the Agro-Geo-Cooperative model would help them combat the scourge of fake and substandard inputs as well as poor mechanisation service delivery.

Recall that NIRSAL Plc, an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) set up to innovatively and independently de-risk the agribusiness finance value chain, recently signed an MoU with the DAWN Commission to support the realisation of the agricultural agenda of the six South-West governors.

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