How Kogi APPEALS Is Facilitating Technology Deployment To Assist Rural Farmers: The Agro-processing Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support Project (APPEALS) is a project targeted at small and medium scale farmers. It was initiated by Nigerian government and implemented with the support of World Bank. It is expected that 35 per cent of the beneficiaries of the project will be women and youths who will be empowered along Rice, Cocoa, Poultry, Cashew, Maize, Ginger, Diary, Wheat, Tomato, Cassava and Aquaculture value chains. In Kogi State, A total of 159 Commodity Interest Groups (CIGs) comprising 61 CIGs for rice, 44 CIGs for cassava and 54 CIGS for cashew were mapped and geo-referenced across 23 clusters in the state. Seven (7) clusters, nine (9) clusters and seven (7) clusters were for rice, cassava and cashew respectively across the state. The Communications Officer of Kogi APPEALS, Ocholi Ikani during a visit to some communities where they (Kogi APPEALS) are empowering farmers, and said APPEALS came on board in Kogi State in October 2018 and ever since then, they try to run with the Mandate of in increasing the agricultural productivity of farmers in kogi State in terms of rice, cashew and Cassava.
