The Kogi State Government has signed two agreements with the World Bank and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for subsidiary loans of $62m and $10m respectively.
The state Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Mukadam Idris, signed the agreements on behalf of the state government.
The government said it intended to commit the loans to rural roads and agriculture market and value chain development.
According to the spokesperson of the governor, Mohammed Onogwu, in a statement on Friday, the IFAD assisted Value Chain Development Programme is an agricultural initiative aimed at reducing rural poverty, enhancing food security among poor households and promoting economic growth on a sustainable basis.
“The programme is essentially on the production, processing and marketing of rice and cassava in targeted LGAs in the state.
“The programme is made up of three basic components which are agricultural market development, to support value addition; market linkages and support to market infrastructure and to build a very strong agro-business and value chain orientation to farmers in rural communities.”
He said another component was smaller productivity enhancement, while the third programme was management and coordination.
He further stated that the World Bank loan for Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) will upgrade over 500 kilometres of rural roads, improve agro-logistics centres and enhance connectivity and access to local markets and agribusiness services in the state.
The projects are to be jointly funded by the World Bank, French Development Agency and the Government of Nigeria, Mr Onogwu added.
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