Lifting Nigerians out of poverty via IFAD-assisted programmes

It was also largely a swift response by the global body to drought and famine that ravaged many nations at that time, especially on the African continent. Currently, the UN collaborates with the Federal Government, states and local governments, to provide financial support for the three rural-based poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria. The programmes are: […]

It was also largely a swift response by the global body to drought and famine that ravaged many nations at that time, especially on the African continent.

Currently, the UN collaborates with the Federal Government, states and local governments, to provide financial support for the three rural-based poverty alleviation programmes in Nigeria.

The programmes are: Community-Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP), Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRMP) and Rural Finance Institution Building Programme (RUFIN).

The CBARDP holds sway in seven states in the north, while the CBNRMP is being implemented in nine states in the Niger Delta region.

RUFIN, on the other hand, operates in two states in each of the six geo-political zones of the country.

In the main, CBARDP is an integrated agriculture and rural development programme, which aims to improve the livelihood of Nigeria’s rural poor.

It is jointly funded by IFAD, the Federal Government, 69 local governments and 207 selected villages within councils in seven states in the north namely, Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe and Zamfara.

Specifically, the programme targets women and other vulnerable groups in the selected states, which include children, youths, the physically challenged and the elderly.

Analysts say that since its introduction in the seven states, it had performed beyond the expectations of both government and beneficiaries in terms of impact.

As a result of this, IFAD had not only granted a three-year extension for the programme in the selected states but had also granted additional resources to the tune of 13 million U.S. dollars, to ensure “consolidation of performance and achievements”.

Malam Ado Dutsinma, a beneficiary of the programme, who hails from Dutsinma Local Government Area of Katsina state, recalls that he invested part of the loan he received from the CBARDP on ram breeding.

“I sold 26 of the rams during the last Sallah festival and made handsome profits; I have restocked and engaged the services of three youths to help tender the rams.

As at date, Dutsima’s cattle have increased to 37 and he says: “I am really grateful to both IFAD, Katsina State Government and Dutsinma Local Government for assisting me with the loan”.

Expressing similar sentiments, Hajia Maimuna Dogodanji, who hails from Kebbi State, recalls that she took a loan of N100, 000 from CBARDP, which she invested in kitchen utensils’ trade.

“After disposing off the utensils, I traded again on farming implements and am now into sheep rearing.

“All the businesses I undertook with the loan yielded handsome profits. The small sheep which I bought are growing very fast and some of them have given birth.

“Only God can repay these people (IFAD); I have no words enough to thank them,’’ she says.

Malam Hamidu Yankara, from Zamfara State, is another beneficiary of CBARDP’s credit facility. He had set up a shoe making shop with the N50,000 loan he received.

“The business is rapidly expanding,” says Yankara, who before now, had been jobless.

“I have been able to send some of my children to school, while two others are working as apprentices in my shop. I thank God and IFAD,’’ he adds.

As part of continuing efforts to improve on the well-being of rural dwellers, IFAD Support Office in Katsina State, recently facilitated the manufacture of Complementary Diet for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children who are under five years.

Alhaji Iyal Nasir, acting Sub-Programme Leader, Awareness and Capacity Building Management at the office, emphasizes that the consumption of the special diet has helped to reduce malnutrition among rural women and children in Katsina State.

He discloses that the special diet comprises millet, soya beans and groundnut.

Besides, the Office planted wind-breaking trees in various communities in the state, to raise environmental standards, just as it assisted several physically challenged women with means of mobility, Nasir expatiates,

Alhaji Aminu Dogondaji, the State Programme Officer (SPO), IFAD-CBARDP Office in Sokoto State, says that the programme is being implemented in 36 villages located in 12 local government areas.

According to him, the execution of CBARDP drainage excavation projects in Sabon Garin Dole Community in Goronyo Local Government Area has assisted several farmers displaced by floods to return to their lands.

Many other beneficiaries are quick to relate one fortune or the other concerning their romance with IFAD programmes.

For instance, Mohammed Aminu, recalls that he had been a local blacksmith, who fabricated local farming tools such as hoes and axes in Auyakayi Village in Auyo Local Government Area of Jigawa State.

He recalls that his monthly earning of less than N5, 000 hardly sustained him, forcing him to migrate to the cities in search of menial jobs, especially during the dry season.

Aminu says that since CBARDP’s intervention in his life in 2008, through a five-day training programme and a loan in addition, life has changed for the better for him.

“I have since repaid the loan and trained two youths, who in turn have trained four others,’’ he says.

Hajia Aisha Abdullahi, a resident of Kadangaru Quarters, Dutsinma Local Ggovernment Area of Katsin State, recalls that she started her small-scale agricultural business with a grant of N90,000 from the CBARDP.

“I had been dreaming of starting a small-scale business in agriculture but I had difficulty raising the capital.

“But with the loan I got from IFAD, I was able to start the business and I am now the proud owner of six cross-bred cows, eight sheep and seven goats.”

Alhaji Abubakar Kankia, the National Coordinator of the IFAD Programme, says that its implementation has positively touched the lives of 2.6 million people in the seven participating states in the north.

“IFAD’s community-based programmes are community-driven; projects executed in the benefitting communities are based on their needs and budget,’’ Kankia expatiates.

He adds that IFAD will soon review the programme’s focus, so as to target agricultural activities, which is the main occupation of the target communities.

“We are using the value chain approach whereby provision of inputs, production, storage, processing and marketing are considered,’’ he says.

Apparently impressed by the programmes’ performance in Nigeria, Dr Kanayo Nwanze, IFAD’s President, said during a visit to the country last year, that great strides had indeed been made.

He commended the Federal Government’s Transformation Agenda, stressing that it would provide a unique opportunity for IFAD to participate in the development of the nation’s agriculture.

“The agenda can get Nigeria out of poverty,” he said on a very optimistic note.

(NANFeatures)