By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state has commended the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, Value Chain Development Programme, VCDP, for transforming agricultural practices and improving the livelihood of farmers in the state.

The Governor who spoke Monday when he hosted a delegation of IFAD-VCDP in the state on the mid-term review of its activities and interaction with stakeholders noted that the global organization had ensured improved agronomic practices in the state.

According to him, “IFAD has championed the course of development in agricultural development in Benue state, particularly in the rice value chain.

“The organization has ensured that our people get improved seedlings and also ensured that our farmers are knowledgeable in dry season farming which has impacted the lives of our benefitting farmers. We are indeed grateful to the IFAD family for the transformation they brought to our agricultural production in Benue state.

“As a government, we will continue to collaborate with IFAD to ensure value addition to our agricultural production in order to also ensure improved livelihood for our people.”

The governor also appealed to the organisation to help the state exploit its full potential in cassava production stressing that farmers in the state were currently not able to meet the cassava demands of the ethanol plants in the state.

He also noted that the government was not unaware of the backlog of it counterpart funds assuring that his administration was making efforts to clear the unpaid funds.

Earlier, the Team Lead, Dr. Samuel Eremie commended the state for taking the lead and setting the pace in the IFAD-VCDP intervention in the country and called for its sustenance.

He urged the state government to take steps to clear the backlog of its counterpart funds in order to demonstrate the government’s commitment to the intervention.

Dr. Eremie also sympathized with the government over the death of its farmers in the herders’ conflicts as well as the losses recorded by farmers during the recent flood disaster that swept through parts of the country.