Kogi State government has concluded plans to empower over 1700 women and youths through Agro Processing, Productivity, Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) with sizeable number of her citizens to benefit from the first phase of its empowerment program.
The state coordinator of APPEALS project, Dr. Sanni Abdullahi Ozomata stated this when he led officials of the program on a courtesy visit to the Chairman of Okene Local Government, Engr. Abdulrazaq Muhammad at the council secretariat in Okene.
He said the program was designed in such a way that beneficiaries were carefully selected and had already undergo two weeks intensive training at the Bayero University, Kano as well as the College of Agriculture in Kabba, Kogi state with each beneficiary have access to two million naira grant from the World Bank to execute their various core agricultural projects such as cassava, cashew and rice as well as other projects in the value chain.
He further maintained that about 250 beneficiaries from Okene local government with N2M grant each are set to commence integrated agricultural production, hence, the need for the local government council to provide them with the required land, security and other logistics needed for the smooth take off of the project.
In his response, the council chairman, Engr. Abdulrazaq Muhammad granted the requests, saying over N550 million for the 250 beneficiaries in Okene local government will help boast the economy of the area.
He appreciated the efforts of the coordinator and his team for standing firm in his quest to ensure the program come to reality.
