Mr. Richard-Mark Mbaram, the moderator of the FGN-IFAD Cooperation Open House and Exhibition Fair held in Abuja on Tuesday, revealed that the partnership between the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Special Agro-processing Zones (SAPZ) project aims to empower 100,000 smallholder farmers and service providers.
He highlighted that the SAPZ project has secured a total of $541 million in financing. The African Development Bank (AfDB) contributed the largest portion with $210 million, followed by IFAD with $160 million, and the Islamic Development Bank with $60 million. Additionally, federal and state governments contributed $19 million, with target groups providing the remaining $2 million.
Mbaram further explained that the initiative aims to establish special agro-processing zones in areas with high agricultural potential to facilitate domestic food market supply and create surpluses.
The program prioritizes empowering smallholder farmers, agro-processors, traders, and community-based service providers, particularly focusing on women and youth. This strategy aims to utilize market demand to increase income, household food security, and climate change resilience.
He emphasized that the primary objective of the initiative is to support the development of special agro-processing zones in regions with high agricultural development potential to supply the domestic food market and generate surpluses.
Additionally, the program will empower smallholder farmers, small agro-processors, traders, and community-based service providers, including women and youth. This empowerment aims to enable them to capitalize on the market demand created by the program to sustainably increase their income, household food security, and climate change resilience.
Mbaram concluded by stating that IFAD aims to benefit 100,000 individuals through this initiative, with 90% being smallholder farmers and the remaining 10% comprising small processors, traders, and service providers.
