PIND’s Cocoa value chain intervention activities are designed to improve the productivity and income of cocoa farmers through the adoption of improved farming practices in planting/re-planting, pruning, weed management, pest and disease management, and harvest and post-harvest operations.
To achieve this, PIND is working with business partners to invest in the promotion of good agricultural practices and technologies by providing quality agricultural information and access to quality agro-inputs and technologies to farmers. In the last two years, PIND has on-boarded and supported input suppliers, equipment dealers/promoters, output buyers (off-takers), and farm service providers to conduct series of training programs and demonstration/promotional activities towards stimulating the adoption of good agricultural practices and technologies by farmers.
Within this quarter, PIND continued with the farmers’ training and demonstrations, supported input companies (Saro and BASF) to organize farmers’ field days in selected locations in Abia, Edo, Cross River and Ondo States respectively. The farmers’ field days were to showcase the results of the harvests and post-harvest operations. Also, PIND continued to work with Subjugate Nigeria Ltd to provide quality improvement support to farmers in Ondo State.
During the quarter, PIND worked with input suppliers19/equipment dealers, off-takers, and service providers to organize training programs for farmers and to set up demonstration farms in cocoa-producing clusters/locations through which farmers have access to quality agricultural information, inputs, and technologies. 1,326additional participants-457(improved productivity)and 869(quality improvement) were reached with GAP training and demonstration on use of improved technologies. In the previous quarters, 9,573farmers were reached, bringing the total outreach of farmers to 10,899 in2020, which surpassed annual target of 10,000in 2020.
