WAAPP conducts 7th implementation mission project

WAAPP is a sub-regional programme of ECOWAS funded mainly by the World Bank with contributions from other donors, for example WAAPP Nigeria has received grant from the Spanish government, while the federal government is supposed to give a counterpart funding of $5 million.WAAPP came up as a result of the declaration of the development goals […]

WAAPP is a sub-regional programme of ECOWAS funded mainly by the World Bank with contributions from other donors, for example WAAPP Nigeria has received grant from the Spanish government, while the federal government is supposed to give a counterpart funding of $5 million.
WAAPP came up as a result of the declaration of the development goals of the early 2000s, when African countries were faced with the challenge of low productivity in agriculture and it became obvious that it needed to be made a priority. The programme has two objectives, the first is to increase agricultural productivity and the second to promote regional integration.
It is in light of this that the World Bank commenced the 7th Implementation Support Mission for West Africa Agriculture Productivity Project (WAAPP) to assess implementation of WAAPP activities in some selected states and areas for subsequent collaboration.
The mission, to be conducted May 4-15, 2015, will review progress of restructuring of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) and also assess operational status of the dry mango projects and progress of implementation of action plans developed during the implementation mission of November 2014.
W/Bank’s Agricultural Economist and Co-Task team Leader, Dr. Sheu Salau, who is on one of the teams, said the dry mango technology at the Longa-Ewa Lakes, Sabo Wuse, Niger State, is a regional project adopted from Burkina Faso which is one of the aims of WAAPP of exchanging technology within the W/Africa sub-region aimed at reducing poverty and ensuring growth.
Other objectives of the mission, which visited IITA Research Station, Kubwa, Abuja and biogas digester project at the UniAbuja adopted village, included review of the work programme and budget, activities of collaborating institutions including innovative platforms, adopted villages and schools, assessing status of project components implementation and updating the result framework.
The implementation mission will also assess project compliance with fiduciary guidelines and safeguard, review project management and monitoring and evaluation arrangement and launch the procurement process for end of project evaluation studies.
At the Longa-Ewa Lakes, some few kilometers off Sabon Wuse, along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, the dry mango project was commissioned by Dr. Sheu Salau.
The proprietor of the project, Alhaji Njidda Ahmed, said one of its essences is to reduce post-harvest losses of mango, guava and oranges.
He said the dry mango technology involves a process whereby the Tommy mango that is grown on the farm is collected, peeled and dried through a WAAPP-sourced machine that dries the fruit from 100% moisture to 12% before it is packaged in 5kg polythene bags.
Nobex Tech Company, in Lagos, is also involved in the dry mango tech production and is looking at possible multiplication of the project.
At the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, Kubwa, Abuja, WAAPP assessed the production of breeder, foundation and certified seeds of improved cassava varieties, production and dissemination of breeder and production of high quality seed yams.
The mission also visited the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi, Niger State Agricultural and Mechanisation Development Authority (NAMDA), Minna, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Federal University of Agriculture, and Fish Shoal, both in Abeokuta.
The team’s first stop in Niger State was in Ndagbachi village where a biogas digester that produces cooking gas from cow dung mixed with water was commissioned. Dr. Salau, who addressed the community, urged them to maintain the project.
Prof. Damian O. Chikwendu, the National Project Coordinator, WAAPP Nigeria, said WAAPP aims at increasing agricultural productivity through improved crop varieties and improved fingerlings noting that these will enhance household productivity.
He said the aim of the biogas project is to teach the community the dangers of cutting trees for firewood and provide them with alternative, adding that WAAPP will continue to monitor the project in order to see how it is impacting on the community.
The biogas digester project was also commissioned at the University of Abuja which was adopted as a village.
In Badeggi, the Managing Director of Niger State Agricultural and Mechanisation Development Authority, Baba Kutugi Madugu, briefed the team on the community-based seed multiplication activities especially rice with a visit to the rice paddies in the area.