Ifdc quarterly report5

Quarterly

IFDCNigeria

NEWSLETTER

AN OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2014

APRIL – JUNE

1. Developing a sustainable cassava value chain; 2. Fostering the dairy development in Nigeria; 3. Bolstering the use of Urea Deep Placement (UDP) amongst smallholder farmers; 4. Increasing smallholder farmers access to subsidized inputs in a “smart way”; 5. Strengthening Agro-input Service Delivery in Nigeria.

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FACILITATING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SUSTAINABLE CASSAVA VALUE CHAIN;

yields, mobilize and connect farmers to Psaltry International. In addition, the 2SCALE project will link farmers to adequate mechanization practices, develop and maintain partnership with the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and NOTORE to produce specific fertilizer blends for cassava.Ã

A symbol of partnership by the consortium- left: MD Nigerian Breweries, Middle: CEO Psaltry international and IFDC Regional Division Director.

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eeking to facilitate a cassava revolution in Africa, the 2SCALE Project signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nigerian Breweries (Subsidiary of Heineken) and Psaltry International (Cassava Processing firm) on the 18th of June, 2014, in Lagos, Nigeria. The project aims to develop a sustainable cassava value chain by improving smallholder farmers’ productivity and accessibility to guaranteed markets, such as Psaltry. In attendance of the signing ceremony, was the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen and members of the Dutch and Nigerian Busines community.

Presently, Psaltry works with more than 500 farmers in Ado Awaye village in Iseyin LGA, Oyo state, and targets farmers that are located in a 50-kilometer radius of its factory. The company supports its out-grower farmers with an integrated support package that includes: improved cassava varieties, fertilizers, linkage to credit facility from First and Fidelity Bank.

To increase starch production and supply to Nigerian Breweries, Psaltry will work with IFDC through the 2SCALE project. The project aims to support Psaltry’s outgrower farmers by designing a sustainable soil fertility management program to boost

A transporter delivering raw milk at a MCC in Fashola, Oyo state

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FOSTERING DAIRY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

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n the 15th of May 2014, Friesland Campina (FC) -makers of peak, three crowns and frisolaunched a Dairy Development Programme (DDP) in Iseyin town, Oyo state to boost local milk sourcing. The company has four Milk Collection Centers (MCC) in Alaga, Fasola, Iseyin (recently built MCC) and Maya-Eruwa, with about 72 farming communities actively engaged in dairy farming. Oyo state was chosen as an intervention area, because of the large number of Fulani Milk Producers (FMPs) and Smallholder Dairy Producers (SHDP) in the state as well as the proximity of the state to Friesland Campina in Lagos state.

The DDP project was launched in 2010 by FC, and IFDC through the 2SCALE joined the project in 2012 to support local dairy farming. This effort is achieved through: Trainings on improved dairy practices for FMPs. Mobilizing additional FMPs and SHDPs to increase milk supply.Ã

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BOLSTERING THE USE OF UREA DEEP PLACEMENT

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o increase the awareness and adoption of the Urea Deep Placement (UDP) technology amongst smallholder rice farmers, the MARKETS II/IFDC team has set a mandate to train 100,000 farmers under the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme on UDP in Kano and Niger states. Farmers who come to redeem their agro-inputs are organized into groups and trained on the use of Urea Super Granules (USG) –the fertilizer used in the UDP technology. At the end of the training, each farmer is given 500grams of USG to use on his fields. This trial will be compared with his traditional farmer practices to assess the results of the technology by the farmer.

Farmer showcasing his TAP card after purchasing his agro-inputs in FCT.

Female farmers displaying the 500grams of USG received after training To further increase rice production and supply, the PRIME project was launched in April 2014. The project which is being implemented in 15 countries, Nigeria inclusive, aims to promote the use of the UDP technology to achieve a sustainable increase in rice production by smallholder rice farmers. MARKETS II team leader, Salasi Idris and FDP expert, Fofana Didjokazo, conducted field tours to gather and build on lessons learned from the MARKETS II/IFDC team.Ã

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DISTRIBUTION OF AGRO-INPUTS IN A “SMART WAY”

hrough the GES-TAP pilot project, a total of 483,000 farmers were registered and issued TAP cards in FCT and Sokoto state (110,000 &

373,000 respectively). On the 19th of May 2014, redemption of inputs using TAP cards in FCT began and in its 6th week of operation more than 70,000 farmers in FCT have redeemed their inputs. While in Sokoto state, about 6,500 farmers have redeemed their inputs Under the GES FRAME project, over 1,000,000 farmers purchased subsidized inputs in the last quarter. These farmers are from the 11 states that the project has rolled out in as two states (Kaduna & Niger) are set to roll out in the next quarter.

In June, delegates from the Ministry of Agriculture in Malawi visited two GES-TAP redemption centers- Jikwoyi and Karshi- with the aim of understudying the pilot scheme and adopting the lessons learned to improve the voucher system that is being implemented in their country. Also, two representatives of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation visited redemption centers in Kuje, FCT, to understand the operating modules of the pilot project. Both teams expressed satisfaction about the pilot project and explained that TAP is an innovative technology that helps to bridge the gap between the GES scheme and smallholder farmers.Ã

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STRENGTHENING AGRO-INPUT SERVICE DELIVERY By the end of the second quarter the project had identified and is working with 55 lead farmers and 30 agro-dealers in its three intervention areas.

Each of the lead farmers is responsible for the mobilization of 100 maize and rice smallholder farmer. One agro-dealer is linked to two lead farmers to increase awareness of available Syngenta solutions amongst other farmers. Furthermore, Good Agronomic Practices were delivered to 3,518 (female-627 & male2891) smallholder farmers in all three states.Ăƒ

A cross-section of NAIS project staff during their onboarding session in Abuja.

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ecognizing the need to transform the agro-input sector into an efficient and effective sector within the Agricultural sector, IFDC has signed a pilot contract with Syngenta Nigeria under the Nigeria Agro-Input Support (NAIS) project. The pilot project is for seven months and kicked off in May 2014.

The goal of the project is to develop private-sector led agricultural input market scheme that is linking targeted agro-dealers to a set of Syngenta solutions. The project will be implemented by IFDC in the three states of Niger, Kaduna, and Kwara States. The project targets smallholder rice farmers in Kwara and Niger, while smallholder maize farmers are targeted in Kaduna state.

In June 2014, an onboarding session was held with project staff to accelerate the understanding of the project’s goals and objectives as well as their roles to individual staff.

Key Forthcoming Events 1. Rolling out of redemption centers under GES TAP in Sokoto; 2. Training of about 400 cocoa youth Spray Service Providers (SSPs) across Ondo, Oyo and Cross River states on spraying services in Osogbo and Ibadan, Oyo state by MARKETS II project; 3. Training of farmers on Urea Super Granules at GES redemption centers in Niger state

by MARKETS II; 4. Training of Agro-dealers and Leadfarmers on business management and Syngenta solutions under the NAIS project; 5. Tillapia Workshop to be organized by 2SCALE in Abuja; 6. Pilot project on forage varieties to be implemented by 2SCALE, in Iseyin, Oyo state.

IFDC Nigeria #6 Ogbagi Street, Off Oro Ago Crescent Garki 2, Abuja, Nigeria.