Malam Usman Akanbi, the Kwara State Project Coordinator of FADAMA development office, says 848 projects are currently ongoing under FADAMA III in Kwara.

Akanbi spoke at a two-day seminar, organised for select media workers in Ilorin. "Most of the projects spread across the 16 local government areas of the state include fish pond rehabilitation, culvert, stocking of fingerlings and juveniles, livestock paddock, access road, well, motorised hand pump, among others."

He said that FADAMA farmers in the state were enjoying the benefits of the project, through input support for crop production and provision of agro-processing equipment.

Akanbi said the lack of maintenance culture and fear of sustainability of development projects in rural areas had been identified as major challenges to the sustainability of development projects in most rural communities. The coordinator said the bureaucratic nature of local government administration also slowed down efforts of FADAMA projects in the state.

Akanbi said the project involved the rural communities in the planning, execution and monitoring toward ensuring food security and eliminating hunger, using a bottom-up strategy. He said the project also provided training and technical assistance to FADAMA User Groups across the state.

According to the coordinator, a total sum of N120 million has been disbursed so far among FADAMA community associations under FADAMA III programme with about 150 beneficiaries. Akanbi identified some of the challenges facing the programme as bad attitude of the people who refused to pay the matching grant of 30 per cent meant to ensure a sense of belonging for the beneficiaries.

He also said that some communities compromised through contracting some development projects to unqualified people at the expense of the desired result of the project. The FADAMA coordinator said that the project had helped to improve the socio-economic lives of rural people and reduced poverty through community efforts. He said that the project had also provided skill acquisition, capacity building and manpower training for increased agricultural yield among farmers in rural communities.