FG trains farmers in Nasarawa State in cassava value chain


The Extension Department of Federal Ministry of Agriculture, in collaboration with Sledge Consulting Limited, has started the training of farmers in Nasarawa State in cassava value chain.
Mr Ogundare Oluwatosin, the Supervisor of the Cassava Value Chain at the ministry, made this known at a one-day training workshop on Cassava Value Chain for Extension Agents in Lafia on Tuesday.
He said that the ministry would first train 20 Extension Agents (EA) in the state who would, in turn, train 25 cassava farmers each.
He said that the essence of the training was to equip farmers with the requisite knowledge on how best to use cassava to produce for diverse foods for human consumption.
“The purpose of the training is to enlighten and train our extension agents on cassava value chain and they would, in turn, pass the knowledge to our farmers,’’ he said.
Oluwatosin said that the training would also teach them about how to process local cuisines from cassava apart from “garri’’ and “akpu’’.
He urged the extension agents to be thorough and effective in training the farmers, with the view of preparing them to go into commercial cassava production.
“We have to make cassava production commercial; our goal is to key into the Federal Government’s policy of diversifying our economy,’’ he said.
Earlier, Mr Stephen Kpama, the Programme Manager of Nasarawa Agricultural Development Programme (NADP), urged the extension agents to ensure that they trained at least 25 farmers each.
He thanked the Federal Government for the opportunity given to farmers in the state to upgrade their skills in cassava production.
One of the beneficiaries, Mr Abari Agye, said that the training had broadened their knowledge on cassava varieties and how to engage in commercial production of cassava.

“Some of the farmers have been planting different varieties of cassava ignorantly but through the training, they will be able to identify the varieties that will give them good yields,” he said.  

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