joshuaKogi Acresal, FPMU,
Boosts Dry Season Farming in Kogi by Visiting Communities.
Dry season farming is indeed an innovative way to ensure food security, especially in regions with limited agricultural productivity during dry periods.
The Federal Project Management Unit’s (FPMU) team visit to communities in Kogi State engaging in dry season farming under the Kogi ACReSAL Project, is a testament to this.
Communities like Mabolo, Ofe-jiji, Ogaji, and Otu/Okeola have experienced significant positive impacts, with farmers harvesting 10-15 bags of maize per cultivated farmland, up from just 2 bags before the intervention, and spend Less than 18,000 naira compared to the initial 75 to 80 thousand naira on inputs and preparation.
The Project intervened through stakeholders’ engagement, identifying interested farmers, capacity building, land clearing, providing hybrid maize seedlings, organic fertilizer, sprayers, peptides and other important inputs.
The dry season farming aims at enhancing the standard of living of the communities, and alleviating hunger during the dry season.
The highly excited community members were full of praise for His Excellency, Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo, as they expressed joy over the gift of the ACReSAL Project to them by His Excellency; saying, the dry season farming experience has helped them in having additional source of income; a far departure from the subsistence farming they used to practice. They also added that this experience has equally helped them in sending their children to school and paying their house rents amongst several other benefits.
Some key benefits of dry season farming are:
Improved Food Security; allows for farming during previously unproductive dry seasons.
Increased Crop Yields; hybrid maize cultivation leads to higher, improved harvests.
Enhanced Livelihoods; better farming conditions improve living standards.
Build resilience of rural poor farmers against climate change.
In line with His Excellency, Alhaji Usman Ahmed Ododo’s agricultural revolution to reduce hunger and boost food security, we implemented the dry season farming from December 2023 – April 2024 under “Component B” of the ACReSAL Project.
As a pilot scheme, we targeted 3 catchment micro watersheds Area in Kogi State; 150 farmers benefited, and
62 hectares cultivated.
The visiting team from the FPMU commended the success attributed to this intervention, and the overwhelming positive feedback they got directly from interviewing the beneficiaries.
The success of this intervention is attributed to His Excellency’s commitment and determination to wipe hunger from Kogi State, and his total support to the Project.
Additionally, Stakeholder engagement and community involvement, demonstrating the effectiveness of collaborative efforts in promoting sustainable agriculture, was also an added contributory factor to the success of the dry season farming intervention…
ACReSAL… Greening The Environment… Saving Lives!!!
