As parts of efforts to boost agricultural production, the Taraba State Government in partnership with Thame International consulting LTD, has trained over 200 farmers on best agricultural practices to enhance food production.

The two-day sensitization workshop on Framework for Responsible Inclusive Land Intensive Agriculture (FRILIA) exposed the farmers to various techniques on how to increase yields through best agricultural sustainable practices and build resilience against climate change in crop production for food security and economic empowerment for the farmers, state and Nigeria at large.

The details of two-day intensive training workshop which held in Jalingo with the theme; “Enhancing Sustainable Land-based Agricultural Investments Through Inclusive Governance and Community Engagement” made available in Abuja was another avenue for the farmers to equip themselves with requisite knowledge in productive farming activities.

The consultant of Thame International consulting LTD who doubled as training coordinator, Dr. Bamidele Oyedeji, said the training was part of efforts geared at implementing the Framework for Responsible and Inclusive Land-Intensive Agricultural Investments (FRILIA), which forms one of the important criteria for states to access World Bank fund of 750 million naira under the BERAP project.

He explained that FRILIA Program which has several components, has the goal of providing training on the principles and practices of responsible and inclusive agricultural investments, thereby creating a platform for dialogue between investors, government officials, and local communities of farmers among other others benefits.

The consultant highlighted some of purpose of the program to include; enhancing social equity, boosting economic growth and helping farmers in the agro business to enable them have easy access to acquisition of land and the criteria required to access arable lands.

Dr Bamidele therefore appealed to the participants at the training, to make judicious use of the knowledge acquired from the workshop to boost food production in the state and also enhance their economic status.
He said such knowledge will help increase food production to tackle the current hardship being faced by Nigerians.

The Taraba State Commissioner for Agriculture, Professor Nicholas Oliver in his opening remarks maintained that the state government has been embarking on profitable initiatives to improve the well being of the people and make food availabe in the state.

Represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor of Taraba State on Agriculture, Hon Hassan Z. Maikasua, he stressed that Taraba State Government has been working to prevent land degradation.

According to him, once the Framework (FILIA) is adopted and implemented by the State Government, it would attract responsible agricultural practices that would contribute to sustainable development and improve the well-being of the people.

In their separate goodwill messages, the representative of the Commissioner for Budget and planning and the chairman, Civil Societies Organization, Mr Joseph Gimba, spoke on the many importance of the training in terms of agricultural practices, food production as well as other sectors of the economy.

Various papers were also presented during the training while the participants asured of using the knowledge gained to improve on their agricultural activities and producrion to their benefits, the state and Nigeria at large.