|21 February 2018 | Ukorebi Esien
The SA Cross River State Home Grown Food Program, Ntufam Sir Gabriel O. Aja, has encouraged stakeholders in the program to look beyond the N70 given to vendors by the Federal Government stating that there are various veritable opportunities beyond that.
The SA who appreciated the opportunity given him to pilot the program in the state said there are a lot of opportunities available in the program if only we can think out of the box.
'We have developed a value addition to our program and promoting" outgrowers schemes" to grow opportunities in the program, and one of it is the ongoing partnership with Akwa Prime poultry and hatchery Ltd to promote an out-grower scheme within 5 locations in CRS to warehouse about 100,000 birds by July 2018.' The SA disclosed.
Ntufam Aja said that all he and his team is doing in the state is to think outside the box in order to full ill the program's mandated which include reduction of the number of out of school children from 15m to zero by 2020, use the program to nourishing the children between the ages of 3 to 7 who are in school, Increase school enrolments and Increase Agricultural value chain thereby improving the economies of the local community.
Speaking earlier about the value chain Aja said in the implementation chain, the programme envisages that we take from the ground to the consumer. So the end person there is either the child or the person who would necessarily buy food from the ground. And in so doing, it envisages that the complete value chain of food processing is harnessed: you plant, dig, process, convert to other uses, enhance, preserve, sell and cook.
Aja added that his office is sorting ways to improve the availability of income to the purse of stakeholders. He noted that it is the part of the scheme for the state governments to supplement the Programme.
In a bid to display his ingenuity as a seasoned administrator and management expert, Ntufam Aja said that they are in partnership with Akwa Prime Poultry and Hatchery Ltd to promote an out-grower scheme within 5 locations in CRS to the warehouse about 100,000 birds by July 2018. Already, about 30,000 birds are ready to be moved to the first location and this will continue as we get locations ready'.
Already, about 30,000 birds are ready to be moved to the first location and this will continue as we get other locations ready.
In Cross River state, the figures of the school children affected and the vendors engaged has increased to 168,069 pupils and 1963 vendors for this second term from last year's first term figures of 117,775 kids and 1358 vendors as at December 2017. The Programme commenced officially in the state on September 2017 sequel to its enrollment in September of the same year.
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