As a result of the good effect of the Agro-processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project on the productivity of farmers in the state, the Lagos State Government has requested an extension of the project from the World Bank.
The appeal was made by the Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Abisola Olusanya, who noted that the APPEALS Project in the state had empowered around 8,000 farmers, particularly women and young people, during the last five years.
Olusanya requested for an extension of the APPEALS Project programme during a Monday meeting with World Bank and APPEALS Project executives who were in Lagos for the ninth Implementation Support Mission.
Lagos State and the World Bank are collaborating with the Federal Government on the APPEALS project, which aims to increase the agricultural production of small and medium-scale farmers and improve value addition along key value chains — Poultry, Aquaculture, and Rice.
During the courtesy visit, the Commissioner assured representatives from the World Bank and the APPEALS Project National Coordinating Office that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Lagos State Government are willing to cooperate and do what is necessary for more farmers to benefit from the project if it is extended beyond September 2023.
During the visit, Olusanya also gave checks to five farmers who are beneficiaries of the Women and Youths Empowerment Programme as insurance benefits for the recent loss of their poultry farm due to Avian influenza, which caused the death of their birds.
The five beneficiaries, Hameed Osiyemi, Yahya Mohammed, David Christiana, Moromoke Olanrewaju, and Omolara Ojo, received insurance payments ranging from N50,000 to N210,000 from the First Adequate Benefits Insurance Brokers Limited.
The Commissioner praised the Lagos State APPEALS Project, stating that it has had the greatest effect in comparison to other agricultural initiatives and programmes.
She said: “The State Project Coordinator (Mrs Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo) and her team members have handled the APPEALS project in the last five years. The APPEALS Project team is one of the best groups of people that we actually have coordinating this project statewide and with regard to the impact the project itself has made, I will say it is second to none.
“Over 8,000 youths and women have been trained and empowered based on field visits. The Lagos State APPEALS Project Coordinator is always pushing us. This team goes far and wide just to ensure implementation is done well. If there is also a team that I have seen a lot of integrity in, it is this particular team.
“We attend the State Steering Committee meetings with the deputy governor and a few other stakeholders from other MDAs and generally speaking APPEALS project is one of the seamless projects that the state has been able to run.
“I want to believe that if there is a possibility, this project should actually continue in all sincerity and if you don’t want to continue it nationally, you can just continue and look at Lagos State as a special project. I think Lagos deserves a special intervention because the team handling this project truth be told is still one of the best.
“We want to thank you (World Bank and APPEALS National Coordinating Office) for being very supportive of the Lagos State APPEALS Project, hoping that we will continue to have the support from now till the end of the project and if there is a possibility of extending it, I want to assure you that the Lagos State government under Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu is ready to cooperate.
“We are ready to serve the people. We are ready to do the needful according to the World Bank procedure and I can assure you that the impact that we all want to see is definitely what you will be assured of getting in Lagos State.”
Speaking during the courtesy visit, the Task Team Leader from World Bank, Dr Manievel Sene, commended the Lagos State Project Coordinator of APPEALS, Mrs Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo, and her team for the job they have done so far, declaring that Lagos is among the leading states in Nigeria based on an overall overview of APPEALS Project.
He said the World Bank will look at another project to scale up the achievements of the APPEALS project. “We are on the same page on how we can look at another project to scale up the achievements of the APPEALS project. We are ready for a new project that will build on APPEALS.
“I think Lagos APPEALS is moving in the right direction. Based on the information from the team, the project enjoyed strong support from Lagos State Governor and the State Government, which is very encouraging. We are very satisfied with the level of implementation and achievements by the APPEALS Project in Lagos,” he said.
Dr. Sene praised the collaboration with Lagos APPEALS and an insurance business, noting that the idea will be expanded up and supported by the World Bank’s new productivity project for farmers.
Sagoe-Oviebo stated that part of the support provided by the Lagos APPEALS project is to ensure that beneficiaries are insured, which is why the project collaborated with the insurance company, noting that the Women and Youths Empowerment Programme beneficiaries from the Epe axis of Lagos State received cheques during the courtesy visit.
The visit was part of the World Bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria’s 9th Implementation Support Mission for the APPEALS Project in Lagos State, which lasted five days.
The mission’s primary aim is to evaluate the overall implementation status of the project and to assure the effective execution of the project action plan prepared during the eighth mission visit.
Mr. Mohammed Jobdi, National Project Coordinator of the APPEALS Project, and participants from the other five Implementing States of Cross-River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano, and Kogi, headed by their respective State Project Coordinators, were also present.