The programme aims to improve incomes and food security of poor rural households engaged in production, processing and marketing of rice and cassava on a sustainable basis.
VCDP works to enhance productivity and access to markets for rice and cassava smallholder farmers through a commodity value chain approach.
Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) is a six-year development initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) programme that focuses on supporting cassava and rice value chains for small farmers in the nine states...
Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) is a development initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Programme
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Home > Anambra
Anambra State, located in southeastern Nigeria, is known for its rich history, entrepreneurial spirit, and cultural heritage. It’s nicknamed “The Light of the Nation” and is a major commercial and industrial hub with a predominantly Igbo population. The state is characterized by a humid climate, rolling flat savannah, and vegetation ranging from rainforest to deciduous forest.
Key facts of Anambra State:
Location: Situated in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordering Delta, Imo, Enugu, and Kogi States.
Capital: Awka.
Major Cities: Onitsha (a major commercial center and one of the largest metropolises in Africa), Nnewi (a significant industrial and commercial hub), and Awka.
Population: Estimated at over 5 million, with Igbo as the dominant ethnic group.
Economy: Dominated by agriculture (oil palm, corn, rice, yam, and cassava), manufacturing, and commerce. It also has significant deposits of natural gas, crude oil, bauxite, and other minerals
Participating LGAs
Dr. Deborah Iyinomen Onyefulu
d.onyefulu@vcdpnigeria.org
Dr. Deborah Iyinomen Onyefulu was born into the family of Prof & Mrs. S.I Okoror of Ekpoma in Esan west Local Government Area of Edo State. She attended Ebenezer Primary School, Benin city Edo state in 1988. She also attended Idia College, Benin city from 1988 to 1993. Dr Onyefulu obtained a Master’s Degree in Accountancy from Imo state university in 2014 and a Ph.D in Accountancy in 2020 from Chukwuemeka Odumegu Ojukwu University Igbariam Anambra State. Dr Onyefulu has published over ten Papers/articles in reputable National and International Journals. She is a member of the Association of National Accountant of Nigeria (ANAN), Association of National System Accountant (NSA) USA, member of the Association of Cost and Management Accountant (ICMA). She has also attended many trainings and workshops in and outside Nigeria. She attended the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria (Advanced Public Finance and Financial Management) Badagry, Financial Management on International Best Practices Workshop at GIMPA (Ghana), 2016, Agricultural Financing Value Chain Financing Edition on Agribusiness on Africa investment summit in September 2018 in Utrecht, Netherlands, London School of Business and Finance, Project Consulting and Project Management, September 2019 (UK) just to mention a few.
Dr Onyefulu works with the Accountant General’s office Anambra State Ministry of Finance. She has also worked with various international donor partners between 2009 to 2011; She worked with National programme for food security (NPFS) from 2012 to 2014. She has been working with IFAD – VCDP Assisted programme from 2014 to Date as the programme Accountant and presently the State Programme Coordinator.
Dr Deborah Iyinomen Onyefulu is married to Justice David Azubike Onyefulu from Awkuzu in Oyi LGA of Anambra state and she is blessed with Children.
Office Address
Anambra State VCDP, ADP Premises, Awka,
State Ministry of Agriculture,
Anambra State.
Nigeria is predisposed to severe negative impacts from climate change due to its fragile economy, weak resilience and low adaptive capacity. Rural livelihoods significantly depend on the performance of climate sensitive natural resources, especially in the agricultural sector. Environmental degradation, extreme weather and long-term climate change that undermine the natural resource stock and productive landscapes pose important challenges to sustainable agriculture, livelihoods and food security. Future climate scenarios project a consistent temperature rise (about 0.02oC per year from 2000 until 2100) and increase in variability and occurrences of extreme events leading to possible dry spells, droughts, floods, recurrence of locust and pests and reductions in yield. Annual flooding from the Niger and Benue Rivers and local tributaries and resource conflicts have heightened loss on agricultural investments and soil fertility and human insecurity.
VCDP is stepping up environmental and climate change activities under a systematic strategy that includes mainstreaming options for green growth and climate-smart production and processing, improvement of resilience through deepening of insurance and “no regrets” options, and provision of appropriate climate information.
In Nigeria, a major constraint faced by women in the agricultural sector is lack of access to formal credit. This challenge is felt more acutely by women than men. According to a 2022 report by ActionAid, 77% of Nigerian women in the agri-food systems lack access to government credits like those in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other financial institutions. Activities in the agri-food systems and most informal sectors of the rural economy of developing nations including Nigeria require lots of capital which most women lack (World Bank, 2012). According to Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA)’s Access to financial services in Nigeria 2020 survey, women are more financially excluded than men – only 45 per cent of women use formal financial services, compared with 56 per cent of men. Access to formal credit becomes a huge challenge for these women as they cannot build/grow their businesses in line with their aspirations.
The overall goal of financial inclusion in VCDP is to ensure that farmers have sustainable access to financial services after exiting two times matching grant support for inputs and one-time matching grant support for equipment. More also, other value chain actors such as financial services, off-takers, insurance services were able to provide financial services directly or indirectly to them. The services include savings, credit, cashless credit with off-takers and insurance services. In order to achieve this, the programme developed a financial inclusion strategy which covers the following strategic areas:
Under financial literacy training, the major goal is to ensure that VCDP beneficiaries understand the concept of financial terminologies used by service providers and make informed decision about financial services. Under technical assistance support to financial institutions, the major objective is to ensure that the programme provides a structured demand-driven and result-oriented capacity building support to financial institutions which will enable them to provide sustainable financial services in terms of friendly financial products (savings and credits) to VCDP beneficiaries.
Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) is a six-year development initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) programme that focuses on supporting cassava and rice value chains for small farmers in the nine states…