The Rotary Club Of Abuja Wuse II in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Minden, Nebraska USA has trained and donated farm inputs such as grain-seeder hand-planter, hybrid seeds, fertilizers, herbicides, insecticides, knapsack sprayers and also cash stipends to over fifty farmers and Internally Displaced Person (IDPs) in Wassa, Apo, a settlement in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The event which took place on Thursday, April 20 is the first phase of the Rotary Foundation sponsored global grant project of Vocational Training Team for improved agricultural economy, aimed at introducing technology to the farmers for improved yields.
Speaking at the event, President, Rotary Club of Abuja Wuse II, Rotarian Justina Princess Oladotun expressed joy over the success of the project, while thanking partners for the support.
“We couldn’t have gotten this far without the collaboration and cooperation of our partners; the Rotary Club of Minden, Nebraska in District 5630, USA, and our agricultural technical experts, Rotarian Fikayo Oyebiyi and Rotarian Kevin Raun, who have helped us with the training of the farmers in Wassa.
Oladotun said the project is a testament to the power of collaboration and international partnerships. “It is also a shining example of the kind of work that Rotary International Clubs are doing around the world to make a difference in their respective communities and make the world a better place. Let us continue to work together and make a positive impact on Earth.
“Now that this phase is over; the next phase is the monitoring, evaluation and data gathering; as a measure of sustainability, our local agronomics partner organization, shall continue working with the beneficiaries and community at large to deepen their knowledge and practice on the new farming method and global best practices they were trained on.”
Also speaking, Expatriate, Rotary Club of Nebraska, Rotarian Kevin Raun, said the technology brought, is simple, and a step, which will continue for the farmers.
“I am a farmer like these folks here, but I don’t work as hard as they do. So this is a way to extend some goodwill, and maybe a little bit of a step-up. A journey they say, starts with one step, so this is a step.
“So as far as following up, we have a team here in Nigeria that will follow this project through the season so we can see the results of what we have done, and be able to take measure of those results to give us some data of how its going. This project is meant to be sustainable. Its meant to come to this community and stay here, and hopefully we can get some local manufacturing to produce the planter, so it can remain here.”
Community Head of the VTT project, Ayuba Ngbako, while thanking Rotary Club for the support and innovation, said he has learnt a lot from the project. “Our method of planting before was very stressful, but with the introduction of this technology, it will help us to improve on our production. It will also hasten our speed of tilling the soil and planting.”
Speaking further, Ayuba assured that he will utilise knowledge of using the grain-seeder hand-planter by ensuring that the knowledge from training is transferred to other farmers within our community.
The project will be monitored by USAIFA International Limited.
