Stakeholders task Kogi government on sustaining agriculture development programme

Stakeholders in the agriculture sector of Kogi state, North- central Nigeria have appealed to the state government to sustain the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA) programme after the exit of its donor partners.

The Stakeholders made the call at a meeting to discuss “Stakeholders Marking Towards Sustainability of the SPA and its Platforms in Kogi State” in Lokoja, the state’s capital.
Ms. Esther Joshua, of Synergos Nigeria, the donor partners, told the CDT members and stakeholders in agriculture and allied Ministries Departments and Agencies that its intervention in the state would terminate in November.
Joshua said there is need to keep the platforms, the Agriculture Vision Group (AVG) and the CDT running even after closure of the SPA and withdrawal of Synergos from the state.
However, Mr. Jerry Onugba, State Director, Agriculture Services, Ministry of Agriculture advised that the programmes be adopted into the state agricultural policy with a definite budget line for their sustenance, adding that that there is need to sustain the platforms as components of the state agricultural policy with budgetary provisions.
Also, Mrs. Folashade Olukotun, Director, Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, Kogi Agricultural Development Project (ADP), said the SPA has gone through the implementation phase with the CDT and is now fully out to deliver on the core mandate.
Mrs. Lydia Oyewale, another stakeholder in the agric sector called for sustenance of the intervention projects through sustained government financing. Other stakeholders in the sector also spoke on the importance of sustaining the programme.
Mr. Kehinde Oloruntoba, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, pledged to support the resolution of the stakeholders for the sustenance of the programmes.
Adama.L