The Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of Agriculture, Cross River, Dr Francis Adie, said Fadama III project, under the World Bank Assisted Project, has improved the lives of millions of families in the state.
Adie stated this in Calabar on Tuesday at a stakeholders’ meeting during the Technical/Assessment visit by officials of National Fadama Coordinating Office, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Abuja.
He said that it was in view of the success of Fadama III project in the state that the immediate past administration decided to clear all outstanding counterpart funds from 2009 to 2013.
“We are happy with the implementation of Fadama III project in Cross River. Fadama III has touched the lives of millions of people in this state.
“Many farmers have formed various Cooperative Associations and Groups and this has paid off as many of them are presently doing very well in their trades.
“The ministry has not found them wanting, especially in the area of management of resources, “ he said.
The permanent secretary described Cross River as the number one producer of Cassava in the country, adding that it had comparative advantage in cassava production.
He further assured the team that the state government would guarantee total support for the implementation of Fadama III Additional Financing project in the state.
“You should not entertain any fear we are ready, and I can assure you that the state government is fully ready for its implementation, “ he said.
Speaking, Leader of the team, Dr Ben Herber, an Agric Business Specialist, said that the delegation was in the state to assess the level of preparedness of Cross River for the implementation of Fadama III (AF) project.
He added that the stakeholders’ meeting was designed to interact with all the stakeholders in the implementation of the project, including service providers, farmers, cassava growers and the state government.
“Cross River has since indicated their readiness to get the Additional Financing and we have considered them due to their performance in the implementation of Fadama III project.
“But, before we start the implementation proper, it is necessary that we interact with stakeholders, to tell them the processes and procedures of implementation, “ Herber said.
He said that the Bank and the Federal Government were ready and only interested in dealing with genuine farmers, and warned against politicians trying to hijack the project.
“This is business. We do not want to deal with political farmers; we want to deal directly with real farmers. If you are a political farmer, please go away, “ he said.
He said that Fadama III has been adjudged as the best rural project undertaken by the World Bank in recent time.
Mr Bassey Elemi, State Coordinator of Fadama III project, said that Cross River has over 345,000 hectares of cassava farmland across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.
Elemi disclosed that through the successful implementation of Fadama III project in the state, N42 million was generated as revenue to the state government by the various Fadama Community Associations as personnel income tax.