By Bode Olushegun
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with European Union Trust Fund for Africa (EUTF) has constructed 13 agro-input shops and 13 storage facilities across 10 local government areas in Borno state in order to boost agriculture and help victims of Boko Haram insurgency in the troubled state.
The UN agency is also pioneering the establishment of tomato processing facility and value-chain development in Biu local government area of Borno State.
Biu is located in the southern part of Borno state.
It is home to the Biu dam and has an agro-ecology which allows tomato cultivation in both farming seasons of the year, making the area versatile for tomato production.
A statement, on Tuesday, by FAO said in January 2021, FAO trained and distributed high-quality certified tomato seeds to 1,500 smallholder farmers in Biu with the potential to cultivate 750 hectares and to produce around 22,500 kilogrammes of tomatoes yearly.
The statement read that: “With the support of the EUTF, FAO is establishing a small-scale tomato processing facility in Biu. Fifty youths have been selected to manage the facility, which is equipped with mechanic pulper, fillers, weighing scales and other accessories required to produce tomato paste and puree.
“In a market linkage approach, the processing enterprise will offtake raw materials from the 1,500 farmers supported by FAO.”
The statement said: “Despite its high capacity for tomato production, Nigeria is the third largest importer of tomato paste in Africa and about 45 percent of its fresh tomatoes is wasted. A first of its kind in the state, the EU-funded activity will support the local development of tomato value chains, prevent food waste and support the restoration of livelihoods in Borno.”
The statement quoted the Head of FAO Nigeria northeast office, Al Hassan Cisse, to have said: “Agri-business is a viable mechanism for addressing rural poverty. We are structuring our response in the region beyond empowering farmers for production, to making them key actors in agro-value chains. This will significantly enhance the sustainability of our development initiatives and promote the resilience of households in the region.”
Since 2016, FAO has been implementing agriculture-based emergency response in northeast Nigeria with the objective to enable smallholder households, affected by the conflict, to produce food and rebuild their livelihoods.
FAO’s agri-business initiative will encourage partnerships and investment, promote sustainability and advance recovery efforts in the region.
To boost ownership of the initiative, the communities provide the land and structures which house the agri-business inputs.
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