Rice farmers in Assakio and Agwatashi communities in Nasarawa state have expressed their delight and appreciation to the Japanese Government and Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) an international NGO, for the construction of rice value chain development centres in their communities.
They spoke on Friday at the official inauguration of the centres located in Assakio in Lafia and Agwatashi in Obi Local Government Areas of the state.
Mr Ogah Atoshi, acting chairman of Apeshi Woza Multi Purpose Corporative Society, a beneficiary of the project in Assakio, said the completion and inauguration of the centre was a dream come true and a blessing for rice producers in the area.
Atoshi said that the project marked a new phase of prosperity for rice farmers in the community and environs as it would help them improve the quality of their rice and enhance its marketing.
He described the Rice Value Chain Development Centre as the first of its kind in the area.
According to him, SAA had earlier trained rice farmers on how to operate and manage the state-of-the-art machines and other facilities at processing centres to enhance productivity and market their produce.
” Today, we are happy to witness the commissioning of the facility where we have a stream of business opportunities – modern rice mill and polisher, 300 tonnes warehouse capacity that is open for both members of our cooperative and non-members to be able to store their goods for safety, among others.
“We are grateful to SAA and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) for choosing Assakio for this project and we assure you that we won’t disappoint.We will manage the centre effectively” he said.
Also, Mrs Tabita Meshack, women leader of the cooperative society said that the training members of the group, especially women got from SAA on how to process their rice had changed their orientation about rice production.
Meshack added that the centre would help them to produce the best quality rice and boost their productivity.
She also thanked the Nasarawa State government for supporting the project and expressed optimism that the objective for the establishment of the centre would be achieved.
On his part, Osoho of Olotsoho, Dr Umar Apashi, traditional ruler of Agwatashi, appreciated SAA and the government of Japan for the intervention in his community.
He pointed out that the project would go a long way to improve the livelihoods of the people of the area and the state at large.
“This will empower our people in various ways. Just as Nigeria is trying to diversify its economy from oil to agriculture, this is one of the ways of empowerment of the people – skills acquisition. This will go a long way in improving the economy of the Local Government and State at large,” he said.
Apeshi, therefore, assured SAA of full utilisation of the facility to add value to the lives of the people and the economy of the State.
Inaugurating the centres in Assakio and Agwatashi, Dr Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Nigeria, said the project was initiated to strengthen the capabilities of rice cooperatives by developing crucial infrastructures such as storage facilities and training centres to increase agricultural productivity.
Represented by Hiromi Otsuki, the Deputy Head of Mission/ Counsellor, the Ambassador also said that the project involved a remarkable approach to decarbonising rice production and processing while adopting fertilizer-saving technologies.
According to him, the project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan funded by Grant for Japanese NGOs project, Sasakawa Africa Association and Nasarawa State government.
He said that each of the centres has central storage hub with a 300-tonne capacity to minimising post-harvest losses and streamlining processing, a digital inventory management system to ensure fair benefits for farmers, and an environmentally friendly “Momigalite” biofuel to reduce the environmental impact of rice production.
Kazuyoshi maintained that the Japanese Government would continue to support Nigeria’s agricultural sector through various initiatives by encouraging the development of a more diversified and resilient economy away from the crude oil sector.
In his remarks, Governor Abdullahi Sule represented by the General Manager, Nasarawa State Water Board, Ahmed Kana, commended the SAA and the Japanese Government for their support and called for more collaborations that would serve the best interest of the people.
Earlier, Dr Godwin Atser, the Country Director of SAA, said that each of the centres comprised of a 300-tonnes warehouse, furnished farmer training rooms, modular rice milling and processing Machines.
Other facilities at the centre according to the country director arr two aggregation tricycles, a Tromso Machines for converting rice husk to briquettes and three Power Generators.
He urged the beneficiaries to make adequate use of the facility to sustain and strengthen food security across the state and Nigeria at large.
Atser said that the rice value chain development centre is one of the numerous projects being spearheaded SAA in Nasarawa State.
He said SAA was implementing other core agricultural development programmes in Nasarwa State funded by the NIPPON Foundation.
Others are decarbonisation of rice production initiative supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB), as well as the Building an Economically Sustainable Integrated Cassava Seed System Project; a cassava seed systems project implemented in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). (NAN).
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