Alia Boost Benue Agriculture With Tractor Commissioning, N380M Allocation To Farmers

To enhance agricultural growth, Benue State Governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has unveiled 33 new tractors, distributes N380, 000,000, ($250,000.00) in grants for climate-smart farming initiatives to community groups.

The initiative is being implemented under the Community Revolving Fund (CRF) scheme of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) scheme.

Speaking at the event, Governor Alia, who has already paid N1b (N1,000,000,000) as counterpart fund for the ACReSAL programme, reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to provide the needed support for the programme to continue to thrive in Benue for the overall good of the people of the state.

He appreciated the relentless efforts of ACReSAL in safeguarding the environment, saying his government is proud to collaborate on a project of such consequence, designed to improve the lives of the people of Benue.

Earlier, the Senior Environmental Specialist at the World Bank Nigeria office and the Task Team Lead for the ACReSAL project, Dr. Joy Iganya Ajene, said the team were in the state to assess, support and look at the bottlenecks of the programme in Benue, stating that they discovered no bottlenecks, an indication that the programme has so far recorded great success in the state.

She commended the government of Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia and the state ACReSAL team for playing their respective roles, saying Benue stands to gain more from the programme. She urged the government to continue to strengthen the needed institutions in order to continue to gain more benefits.

Also speaking, the National Project Coordinator for the ACReSAL Project, Prince Abdulhamid Umar, appreciated Governor Hyacinth Alia and his government for supporting ACReSAL in the state as well as the World Bank for making funds available for the Community Revolving Funds (CFR) programme, expressing happiness with the success the programme has recorded so far in the state.

The Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Hon. Ugwu Odoh, appreciated the Governor for his support to the project, adding that the ministry has been very supportive of the ACReSAL team in the state, the reason they have recorded so much success with the programme.

The State Project Coordinator, Benue ACReSAL, Victor Ama, said the ACReSAL programme seeks to amongst other things, address the challenges of land degradation and climate change in Northern Nigeria on a multi-dimensional scale, increase agricultural production, reduce poverty and improve standard of living with financing from the World Bank.

According to Ama, the project which became effective in June 2022 to end in March 2028, covers 19 Northern States including the FCT, Abuja, disclosing that the Benue State Government under Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, has paid a counterpart fund of 1 Billion as well as provided a conducive working environment for the team in the state.

The benefitting Community Revolving Fund, (CRF) groups include Wadata, North Bank, Wurukum, Modern Market, Adeke, Mbagbera, Branch Atser, Mbayongu and High-Level township communities.

Leaders of the benefitting groups; Taku Livinus from Mbayongu CRF, Makar Rosemary of Wurukum and Hajia Mariam Idris of Wadata and their members, Aide Hyacinth, Tikaa Comfort, Seember Ivom, Lawrence Ayua, all expressed excitement at the programme describing it as first of its kind and pledged to utilize the funds judiciously for the benefits of their communities and their households.