ATASP-1 project promotes commodity value chain products at launch of 2019 farming season in Anambra State
Sorghum, rice, and cassava value chain products of the ATASP-1 Project were displayed and promoted at the annual flag-off of farming season activities for 2019 in Awka, Anambra State. The event, organized by the Anambra State Government, was to encourage farmers and crop producers to intensify their efforts in production and other value chain activities to enhance food security for the development of the state and the nation.
Anambra state governor inspecting ATASP products at the event.
The Governor of Anambra State, Chief William Obiano, declared the event open at the Dr Alex Ekwueme Square in the State capital. In attendance were government officials, traditional rulers, and community leaders. Multiple stakeholders involved in the agricultural value-chain activities from production to processing and consumption participated in the event.
Several donor-funded projects were present during the event displaying various commodity crops and other activities they promote. A team of staff from the Adani-Omor Staple Crop Processing Zone (SCPZ), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) represented ATASP-1. The Adani-Omor SCPZ team was led by Mr Egba S. Romanus, Zonal Program Coordinator ATASP-1 Adani-Omor SCPZ; Sorghum Agronomist, Dr Folorunso M. Akinseye, led the ICRISAT team; and ATASP-1 Task Team Leader, Dr Ibrahim Amadou, represented AfDB.
The team displayed seed of four varieties of sorghum (CSR 01, SamSorg 44, Sk 5912, and Zauna Inuwa), a hand-held motorized weeder promoted in Adani-Omor SCPZ by the Sorghum Outreach, and Sorghum flour processed by El-Shaddai Sorghum Processing Company at Enugu, Enugu State.
Chief Obiano was impressed to see that sorghum can be grown in the SCPZ and that there is an indigenous processor making whole grain flour out of it for consumption.
