The Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP), a World Bank Assisted Project, achieved 80.50 per cent of its 10,000 beneficiary-targets.
Dr Olayiwole Onasanya, the Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, disclosed this to newsmen on Thursday in Lagos at a news conference.
Onasanya said that $122,108,469.32 was spent on the project but $3,162,276.68 was yet to be disbursed.
He said that the project was to strengthen small and medium scale commercial farmers to access improved technology among others.
The eight-year-project initiated on July 30, 2009 and ended on May 30,2017 was solely to strengthen agricultural production systems and facilitate access to market for small and medium scale commercial farmers engaged in targeted value chains.
Onasanya represented by Dr Bolaji Balogun, General Manager, Lagos State Agriculture Input Supply Authority (LIASA) said that the project was to better align with Federal Government’s polucy to speed up implementation and disbursement.
He said that both the small and medium commercial farmers benefited directly from the project over the period while some households benefited indirectly especially through access roads, energy, market and job opportunities.
“The project supported the rehabilitation of 16 farm access roads of 34.9 kilometers across Lagos State.
“An average total of 25.283.99kg of fish was produced by CADP aquaculture beneficiaries with 2,042.31 fingerlings/m3 stock density while 12,356.857kg and 19,198.59kg were processed by small and medium scale farmers.
“While the poultry section produced 7,330,760 trays of eggs, 93, 238 broiler birds were produced.
“The rice value chain also produced 1.8 hectares and 2.81 hectares of land cultivated by small and medium scale rice producers respectively with an output of 4,292.86kg and 2.380kg per hectare while 4506.77kg and 2438.20kg per hectare from small and medium scale farmers,” he said.
Onasanya said the Women and Youth Implementation Plan was another milestone for the project with over 300 women and youth beneficiaries.
In a presentation by Mr Babatunde Yunusa, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of the project, said the amount of loan was $126.34 million and an expected counterpart contribution of N840,000,000.
Yunusa said the major outcome indications were volumes of sales, yields, adoption level for productivity, enhanced technologies, reduction in travel time, improved access roads to markets and market information.
“It is a multiplier-effect project because these beneficiaries will all expand and employ more people in another two to three years.
“From all indications, CADP in Lagos State met and surpassed expectations,” Yunusa said.
Mr Kehinde Ogunyinka, the project coordinator, disclosed that although the project had officially rounded-up, a six-member Oversight Standing Committee had been set up to ensure that the state should take full benefits of all approved project activities.
Ogunyinka said the terms of reference of the committee was to supervise and ensure complete implementation of all initiated but uncompleted sub-projects with stipulated 90-day period after project closure.
Mr Adekunle Tiamiyu, an aquaculture beneficiary who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries said he had been able to empower four others working with him.
Tiamiyu said he got inputs like generators, water pumps, collapsible ponds, cash fund of about N2 million amongst others. (NAN)
