Oxfam, EU, urge FG, states to adopt PROACT strategy for farmers

Governments at all levels in Nigeria have been urged to adopt an Oxfam resilience effective strategy to empower farmers across the country,John Oba reports.

Governments across the country have over the years struggled unsuccessfully with strategies to address the challenge of problem of food insecurity and ensure resilient agriculture across value chains. However, Oxfam Nigeria has called on both federal and state governments to adopt the pro resilience action project strategy known as PROACT to tackle the challenge.

PROACT project is expected to build the resilience of communities battered by insurgency and the effects of climate change in Adamawa and Kebbi States.

According to Country Representative, Oxfam in Nigeria, Constant Tchona, Oxfam Nigeria, European Union, Development Exchange Center and CRUDAN said PROACT ended its third year with most of the project results successfully achieved for vulnerable rural people across 70 rural communities of both states.

E added that 8,000 rural households in both states have escaped hunger under the PROACT project as Oxfam and EU budgeted €11 million to build the resilience of communities battered by Boko Haram insurgency and the effects of climate change since April 2016 and would end in April 2020. 

He said, “PROACT has built 350 community managed food reserves and they are all functioning. More than 8,000 rural households escaped the shame of hunger and were able to sustain their livelihood activities without having to use any negative coping strategy as PROACT provided support during the hunger season of June-September, 2018.

“The more than 8000 households received the social protection of food aid, over 1,400 metric tons of food commodities distributed on a loan basis to households across 70 rural communities. Communities agreed to return close to 800 metric tons of the loaned food commodities into 350 community food reserves successfully established by PROACT. This is more than 55% recovery rate of the food disbursed and will serve as a buffer stock to be accessed during the 2019 hunger season and beyond,” he said.

He said the project has transferred improved breed of livestock and transformed beneficiaries into ‘donors’.

He further stated that about 6000 households received more than 6000 goats with improved breed of bucks; while about 4500 households received about 49,000 chickens with improved breed of cocks. Several success stories were recorded as more than 800 beneficiaries have become donors by giving more than 800 goats and 600 chickens to other community members this passing on the gifts.

“PROACT has developed the rural finance through the village Savings and Laons Associations (VSLAs) to further strengthen the financial resilience of the households. PROACT established successfully more than 2,000 VSLAs across 70 rural communities against a target of 1400 which is an achievement of about 150% against the target.

“It will interest you to know that PROACT has also Exceeder the target of 50% women’s participation by achieving more than 55% women’s inclusion in very conservative communities. The VSLAs has created a formidable rural platform for women to realise their leadership potentials, to contribute to household economies, to develop stronger bond of relationship among themselves and to have access to flexible financial services. Together, the VSLAs have mobilised more than N370 million which is about $1.2 million by themselves in savings and assets with an average return on saving of 11% which is way above the maximum average returns on saving in commercial banks of about 6/0% in Nigeria.

“PROACT has created inputs Revolving Funds Scheme through the delivery of high quality fertilizer to more than 23,000 households. The project has delivered a cumulative total of 138,000 bags of high quality fertilizer against a target of 35,000 bags that is an achievement of about 400% to more 23,000 households in Adamawa and Kebbi State to enhance farm productivity. The input support to these farmers adopted a strategic cost recovery approach using the inputs revolving  funds scheme. As of now, the input fund account has a closing balance of about more than N196 million repair by the farmers which comes to about 75% recovery rates. This is considered a significant sustainability approach that we believe is replicable and scalable,” he said.

Through the project, he said, extension service have been revived leading to increase in agricultural yield. He said more farmers have been trained on managing farming as businesses with impressive behavioural change. 

“What the project did is to facilitate weekly contacts of farmers with agricultural extension agents from States ADP with continuous step-down of knowledge of good agricultural practices and agribusiness to larger farmers groups using the Lead Farmer model. PROACT has therefore systematically brought down the extension agents to farmers ratio from about 1:1500 to 1:13 with over 2500 lead farmers extending extension services to their groups and communities on a weekly basis. The combine effect of the training programmes, timely and affordable access to quality agricultural inputs and consistent contacts with agricultural extension agents have led to increase in yield and productivity of smallholders farmers in communities. More than 96% of farmers in Kebbi and 91% of farmers in Adamawa state are now achieving at least 15% increase in yields for rice with the peak of over 400% of rice and about 300% for sorghum when comparer to the baseline values,” he explained.

On his part, the representative of Development Exchange Center (DEC), Mrs Titi Yakubu, said before the project started in the two states, there was a base line survey carried out to ascertain the households economy of the farmers noting that though the federal government provided fertilizer to farmers it has failed to put in place a sustainability plan. 

She said the farmers were trainee before they started saving according to their ability and that because they are in groups, they were able to support each other and save while also paying back over 75 per cent of money borrowed. Even those that borrowed food were also paying back after harvesting their crops. 

She explained that a structure was developed for the community with some members of the community responsible for the recovery of the loans and distributing the food. 

CRUDAN director of programmes Mr Oluwatobi Salawu, said the project has enabled  farmers realise the need of working together saying that working together gives people more dividend that are much more sustainable than giving people handouts as government strategy.  

However, Mr Tchona said the project in the two states was used as a demonstration project to show that government can achieve more if it adopts the models of the projects. 

“We want the government to take this further, it doesn’t take that much to achieve this, we call on governors to look at this things to see how they can replicate it. After we help the farmers, we went back to do yield verification and what we found is that more than 90% of the farmers we supported in both states have achieved a yield increase between 15% to 400% and these are thing that you can go and verify.

“On the food loan, what we do is to look at the hunger season which is between June and August, we loan those in need of food what they need them we ask them to pay back next year after harvest and we have more than 65% recovery at the moment. And we keep the repaid foods in the grain bank.

“Also as I said, we use this project as a catalytic programme and we are calling on the government to look at this things that has been done, and see how to take some of those models and extend them,” he said.

When our correspondent called Adamawa  to confirm the reality of these claims, many of them said the organisations had done more than is reported.

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