The Federal Government/IFAD Assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP-AF) has distributed tools to farmers and start-up packs to 33 Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Kogi.
The initiative aims to promote inclusion, self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods.
Beneficiaries of the initiative, held on Monday in Lokoja, included farmers, producers, processors, marketers and indigent women in Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Ibaji, Olamaboro and Kabba-Bunu areas of the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Timothy Ojomah, said the intervention demonstrates that development must be inclusive.
Ojomah, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr Moses Dare, said that Gov. Ahmed Ododo’s administration remains committed to agricultural development, poverty reduction and the inclusion of vulnerable groups.
“This is not merely about providing equipment. It is about creating opportunities, promoting self-reliance, strengthening livelihoods and restoring confidence,” he said.
The commissioner urged beneficiaries to use the items productively and to embrace cooperative societies.
The State Project Coordinator (SPC), IFAD-VCDP Kogi, Dr Stella Adejoh, said the programme believes “disability is not inability.”
She disclosed that while farmers contributed 30 per cent of the equipment cost, support for PWDs was provided at no cost.
Items distributed to PWDs include bags of rice, tables, chairs, bowls and POS terminals. Beneficiaries had earlier received training on how to use them for small businesses.
Adejoh added that about 300 farmers received equipment such as knapsack sprayers, solar-powered pumping machines, threshers, wheelbarrows and shovels.
“In addition, 350 women received energy-efficient cooking stoves linked to briquetting machines that convert rice husk and other agricultural waste into clean fuel.
“We expect this intervention to be sustainable. Beneficiaries should use these items for the purpose for which they were given,” she said.
Adejoh appreciated Gov. Ahmed Ododo for the prompt payment of counterpart funds and the Ministry of Agriculture for its support.
She said that VCDP had profiled 7,575 farmers across the five LGAs and has so far supported about 5,600 farmers under the cassava and rice value chains.
Beneficiaries, including Yakubu Mohammed from Olamaboro, Glory Omale from Ibaji and Latifat Babatunde from Ajaokuta, thanked VCDP-IFAD and the state government.
Babatunde, a beneficiary of the briquette stove, said: “The stove uses briquettes made from rice husk. We really thank God for this support.”
