Foundation Auctions Yams In Kogi, To Invest Proceeds In Women, Youths Empowerment

A non governmental organisation, Lift Up Care Foundation has said that the money realised from its auctioning of yam tubers produced by farmers empowered by Lift Up Care Foundation in Osara, Kogi State would be used to advance its empowerment programmes.

Speaking during the auctioning of the yam tubers at Lift Up Care Foundation office located at 200 housing Units in Lokoja on Friday, the chairperson of Kogi NGO’s Network (KONGONET), Hamza Aliyu, described the effort as a novel idea that other civil society organisations in the state should emulate.
He said, “No NGO in Kogi State has invested or trained people in the area of farming. This effort shows that CSOs in the state are thinking how to manage their income and resources for the betterment of the people at the grassroots.

“This yam tubers are not industrially produced, it was locally produced by farmers trained and empowered by Lift Up Care Foundation. This is something we will like to see more of in Kogi State.”
He urged the foundation to scale-up the farming activities so that more yields in different farm produce can be realised next year.

Speaking on the auctioning of yam tubers, the KONGONET chairperson described it as a new innovation that will continue to portray CSOs in good light.

He appealed to other CSOs in the state to emulate the foundation in the area of farming so that multiple crops can be auctioned to people next year.

Also in his remarks, the executive director, Renaissance Care and Empowerment Foundation (RECEF) Ambassador Idris Ozovehe Muraina, commended Lift Up Care Foundation for the novel idea, promising that RECEF will look into how they can also invest in farming.

The project officer of Lift Up Care Foundation Mr Mohammed Sumaila, in his remarks , explained that the foundation trained farmers and gave them inputs and the land to cultivate at Osara, noting that the outcome of the empowerment was the tubers of yam the foundation invited people to buy through auctioning.

He assured that the proceed of the auction will be used to empower people to go into snail farming to better their standard of living.