Some beneficiaries of the Federal Government/International Fund for Agricultural Development-Value Chain Development Programme (IFAD-VCDP) in Niger say they have become millionaires and landlords through the scheme.
The farmers in Ezhigi community, Edati Local Government Area, spoke on the sidelines of a media tour of the FG/IFAD-VCDP project in some communities in Niger on Saturday by VCDP officials.
They said their income, livelihood, and children’s educational standard had improved through the intervention of the program in dry season farming.
Mr. Jubril Haruna, rice farmer and processor, said that prior to the intervention of IFAD-VCDP in 2020, he relied on his father for survival—both feeding and accommodation.
He said they were trained on good agronomical practices, how to prepare nursery beds, transplanting, and proper application of fertiliser.
Haruna said they were provided with tiller machines, subsidised fertilisers, and solar-powered irrigation pumping machines, among others.
He said that initially, they only farmed during the rainy season, which was one season annually, and on a small scale, which was unsustainable.
Haruna said at the moment they could farm all year round on a large scale, had enhanced income, and built brick houses instead of mud.
He said that at the moment, he was able to build a standard house with bricks, set up a processing facility, raise his children’s educational standard, and become a millionaire through the intervention.
“IFAD-VCDP provided us with a solar panel water pump as opposed to the fuel pumping machine we were using initially.
“I bought additional three panels to enhance my irrigation farming, which is the sustainable means of agriculture.
“The program also provided us with improved seedlings, Faro 44, which are more profitable than the former ones we were cultivating traditionally.
“Through these improved seedlings, we do realise 80 bags to 100 bags of 100 kg per hectare, as opposed to 30 bags to 40 bags we used to realise prior to the intervention,” he said.
Another beneficiary, Mohammed Usman, listed some interventions received as training on how to prepare nursery beds, transplanting, and the provision of tiller machines for soil excavation before transplanting.
He said they were provided with fertilizers and solar-powered pumping machines, among others.
Usman, who was living in his father’s house prior to the intervention, said he had become a landlord.
He described their traditional method of farming as cumbersome, strenuous, and less productive.
“With VCDP we are moving forward; we now know more about dry season farming and its enormous benefits.
“IFAD-VCDP gave us solar-powered water pumping machines, which put an end to huge expenses on diesel and fuel to pump water.
“They trained us on good agronomical practices and gaps training on rainy and season farming,” he said.
Usman, who lauded IFAD-VCDP for its transformative intervention to the entire community, said it had improved their lives economically, morally, and otherwise.
He said that before the intervention, most houses in the community were built with mud due to scarce resources.
“IFAD-VCDP has transformed lives economically, socially, and otherwise to the extent that almost everyone now owns modern houses built with bricks.
“We have benefited a lot, and our children know to attend standard schools.
“I can comfortably do any business irrespective of cost; I can farm three to four hectares across seasons through their support,’’ he said.
Mrs. Hadiza Isah, State Programme Coordinator, IFAD-VCDP, Niger, said the visit was to document the success story of farmers that VCDP had supported since the inception of the program in 2020.
Isah said before the intervention, the farmers cultivated between half a hectare and two hectares per person.
She said that through the support, they expended their farms to three to four hectares per farmer.
According to her, farmers in the community can now boast of 6.5 metric tonnes to seven metric tons per hectare.
“When we noticed the volume of rice produced in the community and the challenges of processing, we provided them with a processing unit or facility.
“The objective of VCDP is to sustainably enhance rural incomes and food security.(NAN)
