RICOWAS has trained over 10,000 smallholder farmers in four states, Gombe, Nasarawa, Niger and Jigawa states to adopt the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and sustainable land and water management associated with crop fields to boost climate-resilient rice production.

The initiative, financed by the Adaptation Fund (AF) and implemented regionally by the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), forms part of a 13-country ECOWAS effort to promote sustainable agro-ecological rice systems.

The National Coordinator of the project, Dr. Umar A. Umar who disclosed this in Abuja, commended all partners and farmers for a successful implementation of one year training, encouraging them to continue the collaborations to improve food security in Nigeria and across West Africa.

Umar hinted that additional support from the project will include training artisans on machinery fabrication, compost and organic fertiliser production, adding that several training manuals have been produced in English and Hausa, and distributed to ensure effective and inclusive communication.

According to the coordinator, the Project Nigeria is aimed at strengthening climate change resilience and boosting rice productivity for smallholder farmers that would be scaling up the SRI across the country.
He said the project interventions are located in Jigawa (Auyo, Miga, Kafin Hausa, Dutse and Jahun), Niger (Lavun, Gbako, Lapai, Agae and Katcha), Nasarawa (Doma, Obi, Nasarawa – eggon, Lafia and Awe) and Gombe (Yamaltu-Deba, Balanga, Akko, Kwami and Kaltungo).

Umar explained that both wet and dry season activities have advanced successfully through Training of Trainers (ToT) delivered by experts from the National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI), Badeggi to enable extension workers step down knowledge to farmers through Farmers’ Field Schools.

“There are Farmers Field Days in Gombe and Jigawa showcasing strong adoption and results from the SRI methodology. The project has also strengthened partnerships with organisations including the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; ADPs in various states, SRI 2030, a United Kingdom based NGO promoting SRI globally, Bank of Agriculture among others.”