The Rural Finance Institutions Building Programme (RUFIN) says it is collaborating with the Winrock International, an NGO, on a capacity building for its “Farmer to farmer programme’’.

The collaboration is also focusing on capacity building for credit and saving  groups, microfinance banks, non-bank micro finance institutions and staff  of the RUFIN programme.

RUFIN’s National Programme Coordinator, Musibau Azeez, told newsmen recently, in Abuja, that the decision was reached at a meeting with Mike Bassey, Country Director USAID-Winrock International.

The NGO is a non-profit organisation that empowers the disadvantaged, increases economic opportunities in the U.S. and several countries across the globe.

Azeez said the organisations agreed to work out the areas of cooperation in a Memorandum of Understanding.

He said the “Farmer to Farmer programme” had over the past two years, placed 43 volunteer experts in staple foods, small ruminates, aquaculture and apiculture.

The coordinator said the West Africa component of the programme helped 2,337 people in Nigeria and Mali, with 498,815 as potential beneficiaries.

Bassey also explained that the Nigeria’s programme was willing to assist RUFIN in capacity building and training the farmer’s in beekeeping, staples such as rice, cassava and yam production.

He said the training would cover the entire value chain of production, processing  of storage and marketing.

He said the programme would examine the area of “Training of Trainers” (TOT) for RUFIN’s informal credit and village saving group, monitoring and evaluation, gender issues and extension services.

Bassey stressed his commitment to the successful implementation of the collaboration, and the proposed RUFIN linkage forum scheduled to hold in August.