IFAD-VCDP has delivered a major equipment boost to 553 Enugu farmers, processors and marketers, with agricultural assets worth over N250 million distributed to improve productivity, processing and value addition.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development-Value Chain Development Programme (IFAD-VCDP) has distributed agricultural production and processing equipment worth more than N250 million to 553 smallholder farmers, processors and marketers in Enugu State.
The intervention, aimed at reducing post-harvest losses, improving productivity and promoting value addition, was carried out at Okpara Square, Enugu, on Thursday.
The beneficiaries were drawn from five participating Local Government Areas: Aninri, Enugu East, Isi-Uzo, Nkanu East and Udenu.
The equipment distribution is part of VCDP’s broader intervention in Nigeria’s rice and cassava value chains, with the programme designed to improve smallholder productivity, processing capacity, market access and rural incomes.
Speaking at the event, the Enugu State Programme Coordinator of IFAD-VCDP, Dr Edward Isiwu, said the intervention was designed to empower farmers, processors and marketers, particularly women and youths.
Isiwu said the programme would also strengthen rural communities and contribute to food security in Enugu State and Nigeria.
According to him, smallholder farmers remain central to agricultural production but continue to face challenges including drudgery, post-harvest losses and limited opportunities for processing and value addition.
Among the equipment distributed were 87 tricycles, power tillers, rice grinding machines, rice hullers and polishers, bag sealers, and cassava and rice processing equipment.
Other items included energy-efficient cooking stoves, knapsack sprayers, nutrient-dense food processing equipment, petrol-powered water pumps and solar-powered irrigation pumps.
The intervention also included threshers, smart weather readers, fufu-pounding machines, de-stoning machines, digital weighing scales and Point-of-Sale machines to support financial inclusion.
Isiwu said the equipment was procured under the IFAD-VCDP cost-sharing arrangement, with beneficiaries contributing 30 percent while IFAD provided 70 percent.
He put the total value of the equipment at more than N250 million and urged beneficiaries to use the assets responsibly.
He stressed that the equipment was intended to serve cooperatives and communities and should not be sold.
Isiwu also commended Governor Peter Mbah for supporting the programme and paying the state’s counterpart funding.
He recalled that the state government had previously supported farmers with agricultural inputs, including fertilisers, agrochemicals, rice seedlings and cassava cuttings.
He described the latest intervention as timely, particularly ahead of the harvest season when farmers would require equipment for processing, transportation and marketing of their produce.
Representing Governor Mbah, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, said the intervention aligned with the administration’s agricultural transformation agenda.
Onyia said the state’s agricultural strategy should go beyond production to include processing, packaging, storage, transportation and access to markets.
He said the equipment would reduce the burden on farmers, minimise post-harvest losses and improve the profitability of agricultural activities.
According to him, the state government wants farmers to develop into entrepreneurs, employers, processors and aggregators who can contribute more significantly to the wider economy.
He commended the Federal Government, IFAD, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Enugu State Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation and the State Programme Management Unit for their collaboration.
The National Programme Coordinator of IFAD-VCDP, Dr Fatima Aliyu, also urged beneficiaries to maximise the opportunity by expanding their businesses and improving their livelihoods.
Aliyu, who was represented by the IFAD-VCDP Rural Institute Gender and Youth Development Specialist, Mr Musa Dalang, cautioned beneficiaries against selling the equipment.
He said the intervention was designed to help beneficiaries build sustainable agricultural enterprises.
For Mr Okorie Arinze, a rice farmer from Aninri, the intervention would help address one of the major challenges facing his business: transporting farm produce to market.
Arinze said the tricycle he received would enable him to transport his produce more easily and support other aspects of his farming business.
He disclosed that he contributed N900,000, representing 30 percent of the N3 million cost of the tricycle.
The equipment distribution adds to ongoing IFAD-VCDP interventions in Enugu State, where the programme has focused on strengthening farmers and other actors along the rice and cassava value chains. The programme’s wider objective is to improve productivity, market access, food security and rural incomes.
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