The states are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Jigawa,
Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Niger,Ogun and Ondo States.
Others include Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara states as well as the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT).
He said that the involvement of youth in the agricultural programme would contribute significantly to the
country’s efforts to
achieve food security and boost capacity building as well as employment opportunities.
The enrolment for the programme ended on May 15, 2017 with the aim of selecting the beneficiary youth
would boost job creation in the 23 states.
Mr Daguru, who said that the funds disbursement had yet to start,
however, assured that the money
earmarked for the project was
intact.
He, nonetheless, said that the disbursement would be made through the Grant and Funds category of the
project.
“We have applied to the federal government, through Federal Ministry of Finance for permission to
reallocate funds from other categories like Consultancy, Training, Civil Work into the
Grant and Funds
category.
“Any moment from now, disbursement will take place, especially to
those who would engage in rainy season
agricultural activities
because they have completed the grant agreement and submitted their land documents.
“The Phase One is expected to gulp about N8, 675, 013, 679.12 to
fund the business plans of the 5,916
candidates in 23 states.
“If the resources permit in the last segment of the project, we will be able to upscale to other states in the
second phase.’’
Mr Daguru said: “The objective of the programme is to work with government in three areas of job creation,
while building capacity
of our youths and aiding efforts to keep the foreign exchange rates
low.
“We are making sure we import low quantities of rice and tomatoes, while putting less pressure on our Naira
(currency) so as to make our economy strong.’’
He said that the target beneficiaries were those with ages between
18 and 35 as well as graduates
andundergraduates of higher institutions.
“The programme would support all aspects of agricultural production in a business or commercial manner;
right from crop
and livestock production, inputs support supply and advisory services.
“It would also assist extension services and post-harvest production
services like storage, warehousing,
marketing and products distribution.’’
Mr Daguru said that after the screening of the candidates, they would be exposed to a two-week intensive
training in business and
technical fields in the states.
“During the application process, candidates would be allowed to choose specific enterprises of their choice
in the agricultural value chain and they would be trained in the ventures accordingly.
“At the end of the training, they would be asked to submit business
plans on their chosen enterprises; we will
then invite professionals
to review the business plans and come up with standard modules.
“We have 5,916 trainees and they have opened bank accounts with two selected commercial banks that are
used by the FADAMA Coordinating Offices in the states.’’
The committee chairman said that the rationale behind the opening
of the accounts was to have dedicated
accounts for the project so as to facilitate proper project monitoring.
Mr Daguru said that the organisers did not want the trainees to use their existing bank accounts, as they
could be tempted to use ATM (Automated Teller Machine) to withdraw money from the accounts arbitrarily.
“We want to control the use of the funds, while ensuring that the
funds are used for the intended purposes.
“They would not be able to withdraw money from the dedicated
accounts without prior approval of state
FADAMA offices.
“We will also ensure that they insure their businesses with the
Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation
(NAIC) in the business
plans.
“We have made provision for 2.5 per cent deduction from the total
cost of the business as insurance
premium,’’ he explained.
(NAN)
