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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Ebonyi State, nicknamed “the salt of the nation”, is a state in southeastern Nigeria known for its agricultural production and salt deposits. It is a leading producer of rice, yam, potatoes, maize, beans, and cassava. The state also has significant deposits of salt, particularly at the Okposi and Uburu Salt Lakes. Ebonyi has a humid tropical climate and is located in a region suitable for various agricultural activities. Ebonyi State covers an area of 7,465 square kilometers. It is located in the humid tropical agro-ecological zone of southeastern Nigeria. The state shares borders with Benue to the north, Enugu to the west, Cross River to the east, and Abia to the south.
Capital: Abakaliki is the capital and largest town in the state.
Economy:
Agriculture is the dominant sector, with the state being a major producer of various crops. Ebonyi has significant salt deposits, which are a key natural resource. While the state has solid mineral resources like lead, crude oil, and natural gas, large-scale mining is not yet fully developed.
Population: Ebonyi State has an estimated population of 4,339,136 based on the 2006 census.
Participating LGAs
Mr Sunday Michael Ituma
i.ituma@vcdpnigeria.org
Mr. Sunday M. Ituma is a native of Amike, Ezzangbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. Mr. Ituma is a graduate of the highly reputed polytechnic – Institute of Management and Technology Enugu where he obtained Higher National Diploma in Accountancy. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with specialization in Project Management from the Federal University of Technology (FUTO) Owerri. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and bagged Associate membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1992 and was subsequently conferred with Fellowship of the Institute. He is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and a member of Nigeria Institute of Management (Chartered).
Mr. Ituma has acquired practical experience and exposure in various areas of Accounting including: Auditing, Management Accounting, Taxation, Financial Accounting, Advisory Services, Financial Management Strategy etc. Mr. Ituma had his practical training with medium sized Accounting firm – Tunde Williams & Co (Chartered Accountants) from where he left and held various management positions in a number of industries before returning to full practice with the firm of Lawal, Fafowora & Co. (Chartered Accountants) where he rose to the position of Deputy Manager before joining the conglomerate of Kewalram – Chanrai Group with six mega subsidiaries where he attained the position of Audit Manager/Team Leader. He later joined the Services of Government of Ebonyi State as Director of Finance and Accounts of the State’s Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). He rose to become the Programme Manager of the ADP for several years. He is currently the State Programme Coordinator of the FGN/Ebonyi State IFAD Value Chain Development Programme.
Mr. Ituma is widely travelled and attended numerous Professional trainings locally and internationally. He is a socialite and a good team player. He has held many social/professional positions such as Chairman – Abakaliki and District Society of ICAN, President – Abakaliki Recreation Club, Chairman East of the Niger Inter Club Association (ENIC).
He has been bestowed with many traditional chieftaincy titles on account of his philanthropic disposition to individuals, churches and his community. Mr. Ituma is happily married to Dorathy – Ezenwanyi and they are blessed with children.
Office Address
Ebonyi State ADP H/Q complex, Km 8 Abakaliki – Ogoja highway, By Ebonyi fertilizer company, Onuebonyi, Abakaliki, Ebonyi 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…