Stephen Idehenre, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security in Edo State, disclosed that more than 2,078 smallholder farmers have received Irrigation Equipment and Assets from the state government. This distribution took place during an event in Benin on Friday, as part of the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES) program. These facilities, funded jointly by the World Bank and the federal and Edo state governments, were distributed under the FADAMA Edo CARES window, aimed at supporting irrigation and overall farming in the state.
Idehenre mentioned that previously, a total of 1,832 farmers had benefited from a similar program in the state. The distribution included 14 individuals who received Solar Irrigation Pumps, 436 people who were provided with 218 pumps, and poultry farmers from Ooredoo, Egor, Ikpoba Okha, and Uhunmwonde local governments who received feather-picking machines.
Edward Izevbigie, the Edo State Coordinator of the FADAMA project, congratulated the beneficiaries and encouraged them to utilize the facilities to enhance their farming activities and financial well-being.
In interviews with the press, beneficiaries like Kanabe Ahmed, a tomato farmer, and John Imohimi, a poultry farmer, expressed gratitude to the federal and state governments for the empowerment. They expressed confidence that the equipment would significantly increase their farm productivity and assured that they would use the equipment responsibly.