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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Enugu State, located in southeastern Nigeria, is known as the “Coal City State”. It’s characterized by its predominantly Igbo population and the Udi-Nsukka Plateau, with the Ekulu River flowing through the capital city, also named Enugu. The state is rich in coal and other minerals like iron ore, limestone, and marble, and its economy also includes agriculture and various industries.
Participating LGAs
Dr Edward Isiwu
e.isiwu@vcdpnigeria.org
Dr Edward Chukwuka Isiwu, hails from Lejja community in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria. He holds a B.Sc. Degree in Vocational Teacher Education, Agriculture with Second Class Honours, a M.Sc. degree in Vocational Teacher Education, Agriculture and a Ph.D. degree in Vocational Teacher Education, Agriculture all from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is currently the Enugu State Coordinator of the FGN/IFAD-assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP). He was a Senior Lecturer of Agricultural Education at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. He served as Deputy Director, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) Limited, a business and consultancy arm of the University from 2013 to 2016.
Dr. Isiwu is a renowned academic and a brilliant researcher with numerous scientific publications in reputable and high-impact factor Journals. He is also a member of the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) and has served in several national and international forum as a research fellow. He is a member of different academic associations like the Agricultural Education Teachers Association of Nigeria (AETAN), Association of Education Administration and Planning (AEAP), Curriculum Association of Nigeria (CON), Nigerian Vocational Association (NVA) among others.
He has served both National and International governments in different capacities as a Management Consultant including Bread for the World, Germany, IFAD Assisted Community Based Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP) in Northern Nigeria, Common Wealth Education Fund/Action Aid Nigeria, World Bank Assisted Local Empowerment and Environmental Management Programme (LEEMP), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria amongst others.
Dr. Isiwu is a specialist in Agricultural Research & Development, Cooperative Education and Management, Business/Entrepreneurship Development, Institutional Development and Capacity Building, Agricultural Education/Extension Services, Project Management, Monitoring and Evaluation, Training Development, Management and Facilitation. He is a member of Board of Advisory Council- Development Education Centre (NGO) Enugu, Special Marshal Federal Roads Safety Corps and Member, Governing Council Abia State Public Private Partnership and Investment Promotion (PPP/IP) December 2017-2023. Dr. Isiwu is happily married with children.
Office Address
No 2, Onitsha Road, beside Radio Nigeria Office, GRA Enugu.
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…