Akwa Ibom Harps on Investment in Agric

The 31 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Akwa Ibom State have been told to take the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) which is funded by World Bank, French Development Agency and other international financial institutions a serious.

At a one-day sensitisation on the Akwa Ibom State -Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (AKS-RAAMP), the Chairman, Technical Committee on Agriculture and Food Sufficiency in the state, Prof Edet Udoh stressed the need for them to take advantage of the project.

He explained that RAAMP has window of opportunities created by the State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, for local government council helmsmen to access the facility and popularised themselves.

Under the scheme, Udoh said the RAAMP had already prioritised the construction of 500Km roads across the state as well as agro-logistics, among other projects as the state government had paid its counterpart funding.

Udoh, who doubles as the Chairman, State Project Monitoring Committee (SPMC) of AKS-RAAMP said “the problem we have in Africa is that we don’t own development efforts for sustainability.”

He noted that the interest of the state governor in the programmed had opened the state to development agencies or partners, pledging the resolve of SPMC to work with the Local Government Areas to ensure RAAMP succeed in the state.

Giving an overview of AKS-RAAMP, the Sate Project Coordinator, Mr. Gideon Akpan explained that RAAMP had been in Nigeria for the past twelve years with only two states that benefited.

Akpan maintained that it scaled up to RAAMP ll where seven states benefited, adding, “we had to scale up from RAAMP ll which was Rural Access And Mobility Project, to Rural Access And Agricultural Marketing Project,” with 18 states selected to participate including Akwa Ibom State which is opportune to join through the efforts of the present state administration of governor Emmanuel.

To boost the AKS-RAAMP, funded by the World Bank with the assistance of French Development Agency, he said the state government had released the sum of N833 million as counterpart fund.

“French Development Agency is coming to give us the grant for Agriculture while World Bank will be interested in infrastructure and institutional development,” he said.

He posited that AKS-RAAMP would embark on development of value change, agricultural produce through processing, marketing, export, making farmers product available at the right place, time and value through the right access road connectivity in the state.

The Project Coordinator said RAAMP was adopted by governor Emmanuel to consolidate on his five points agenda of Wealth creation, Economic and political inclusion, Poverty alleviation, infrastructural consolidation and Job creation.

Akpan maintained that farmers within the project will access loan at international market and agricultural hubs to improve their sales and make income, stressing that the 500Km roads identified in the state was for immediate intervention.

According to him, “the project will develop inter-border transport system that will connect all the local communities in Akwa Ibom state”, noting that with the development rural-urban drift would be controlled and all rural areas would be opened up with access broad and agro marketing hubs.

Also, he said the project would have a delivery of agricultural product at lower cost and at the right time as well as ensure food sufficiency and poverty reduction in line with sustainable development goals.”