The FADAMA III Additional Financing (AFII) Programme says it has put in place institutions that will sustain its projects after its Dec. 31, 2019 terminal date.
Dr Adetunji Oredipe, World Bank Task Team Leader (TTL) of the FADAMA Programme, said this in an interview in Abuja on Thursday.
He said that the FADAMA programme had created institutions which existed as groups, associations and federated associations in states and at the federal level.
“We need to make sure that all these stakeholders come together to sustain the investments and in doing this, we are consulting at different levels.
“We have also been receiving assurances from state governments that they will continue to support the good work which FADAMA has done,’’ he said.
Oredipe said that judging from the assessment of the FADAMA programme at a recent summit, “we gathered that the programme has made a huge impact on the participating states and most of its activities have been completed.
“We were able to interact fully with the beneficiaries; the feedback shows that things are working well as we all know that the project is going to an end in about 18 months time.
“We are paying more attention to details on how to sustain all the projects that have been put in place by the programme thereafter,’’ he said.
Oredipe said that the FADAMA Vanguard was launched in Taraba, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi and Borno states to enable youths and women to contribute their quotas to the development of their communities.
“Our objective is to revive the livelihoods of our people after suffering from the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East, while ensuring that there is enough money in circulation.
“If you provide work for the young ones, they will make income and use the income for other productive ventures.
“We select 40 individuals from 600 communities we are working with, so as to make sure they utilise their services in rebuilding their communities and at the same time, put some money into their pockets.
“The scheme is receiving the support of the state governments in the region and they promise to do more because the project is able to revive the economy of those communities,’’ he said.
On her part, Dr Aisha Ndayako-Mohammed, Head of Project Coordinating Unit, Federal Ministry Agriculture and Rural Development, told NAN that the primary role of the ministry was to coordinate the projects of development partners in agriculture.
“FADAMA is one of the programmes and it is being funded by World Bank; it strengthens the Federal Government’s efforts to boost the production of certain foods like rice, cassava and sorghum.
“Our mission is to check the implementation of development partners’ programmes, jointly carried out with the officials of World Bank and key ministries like Finance, Agriculture as well as Budget and Planning.
“The objective is to go and verify if the funds being released are utilised efficiently, effectively and for the purposes which they are meant for.
“It is also an opportunity for us to see what they are doing well and those that are not good so that they can be corrected, in conformity with the programme’s objectives,’’ she said.(NAN)
