The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Kogi State, Timothy Ojomah. Photo: Kogi State Government.

The Federal Government/IFAD-Assisted Value Chain Development Programme in Kogi State has distributed agricultural equipment to farmers and provided start-up packs to 33 Persons With Disabilities to promote inclusion, self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods.

The distribution, held on Monday in Lokoja, covered farmers involved in production, processing and marketing, as well as women beneficiaries across five local government areas: Ajaokuta, Lokoja, Ibaji, Olamaboro and Kabba-Bunu.

Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Timothy Ojomah, the Permanent Secretary, Mr Moses Dare, said the intervention demonstrated that development must be inclusive.

He noted that the Kogi State Government, under Governor Ahmed Ododo, was committed to agricultural development, poverty reduction and the inclusion of vulnerable groups.

“This is not merely about providing equipment. It is about creating opportunities, promoting self-reliance, strengthening livelihoods and restoring confidence,” he said.

Dare urged the beneficiaries to use the items productively and embrace cooperative structures to maximise the benefits of the intervention.

The State Project Coordinator of IFAD-VCDP in Kogi, Dr Stella Adejoh, said the programme was guided by the belief that “disability is not inability.”

She disclosed that while farmers contributed 30 per cent of the cost of the equipment, support provided to PWDs was at no cost to the beneficiaries.

Items distributed to the PWD beneficiaries included bags of rice, tables, chairs, bowls and Point of Sale terminals. The beneficiaries had earlier received training on the use of the equipment to establish and operate small businesses.

Adejoh added that about 300 farmers received equipment, including knapsack sprayers, solar-powered pumping machines, threshers, wheelbarrows and shovels.

“In addition, 350 women received energy-efficient cooking stoves linked to briquetting machines that convert rice husk and other agricultural waste into clean fuel. We expect this intervention to be sustainable. Beneficiaries should use these items for the purpose they are given,” she said.

She appreciated Ododo for the prompt payment of counterpart funds and the Ministry of Agriculture for its support towards the programme.

Adejoh said the VCDP had profiled 7,575 farmers across the five local government areas and had so far supported about 5,600 farmers along the cassava and rice value chains.

The intervention is part of efforts to strengthen agricultural value chains, improve farmers’ productivity and livelihoods, reduce post-harvest losses and support food security in the state.

Beneficiaries, including Yakubu Mohammed from Olamaboro, Glory Omale from Ibaji and Latifat Babatunde from Ajaokuta, thanked VCDP, IFAD and the state government for the support.

One of the beneficiaries of the briquette stove said, “The stove uses briquettes made from rice husk. We really thank God for this support.”