L-R: Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo; Executive Director, FARA, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu; Executive Governor, Abia State, Mr. Endi Ezengwa; Coordinator, Education for Employment.
Within the context of FARA’s Holistic Empowerment for Livelihoods Program (HELP), a holistic model driven by global partnership to deliver livelihood by leveraging the South-South & Triangular Cooperation (SSTC), the Abia State of Nigeria has pledged to adopt FARA’s Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa (S3A). This was declared by Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, the Executive Governor of Abia State on 24th September 2019, when Dr. Yemi Akinbamijo, the Executive Director of FARA, paid him an official visit in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State.
During the meeting, FARA offered its network of experts to support the state’s attempt at transforming and diversifying its economy using its Innovation to Impact Pathways, by taking advantage of the entrepreneurial potentials of the state. Receiving a strategy document dubbed ‘Abia Agripreneurs’; developed by FARA, in which strategic commodities (cassava, ugwu, tomato, plantain and poultry) are prioritized for developing an action plan aligned to HELP, Dr. Ikpeazu thanked FARA and pledged to provide all the needed support in implementing the plan. It is expected that the strategy will usher in New Cassava for Economic Development in Abia State (NCEDA) and support the training of at least 150 Abians in FARA’s capacity development program-ARIFA, in the next 3 years.
Thanking FARA for the opportunity, Mr. Endi Ezengwa, the Coordinator of Education for the Employment (E4E) initiative, indicated that the opportunity for partnership with FARA represents one of the converging points in the agricultural sector, where the state already houses the biggest cattle market In Nigeria. This is also the vehicle through which key interventions in Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) as outlined in this document, may be implemented.
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