The Federal Government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development Value Chain Development Programme (FGN/IFAD-VCDP) have commended farmers in Anambra State for increasingly transforming cassava, rice and other agricultural produce into value-added, market-ready products.
The Anambra State Programme Coordinator of VCDP, Deborah Onyefulu, gave the commendation on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, during the opening of a two day Interactive Commodity Promotion Show and Agricultural Fair in Awka.
Represented by the Acting State Business and Market Development Officer, Mary Obiekwe, Onyefulu said the initiative was helping farmers gain greater visibility, access new markets and improve their opportunities for income generation and job creation.
She explained that the agricultural fair was designed to showcase the impact of training provided under the programme while strengthening the rice and cassava value chains.
According to her, farmers have been trained to process agricultural produce into a range of marketable products, including cassava moi-moi, chin-chin, cakes and chocolate.
She said the fair would also enable programme officials to assess the extent to which farmers had applied the skills acquired through training in cassava, rice and vegetable value chains.
Farmers from nine participating Local Government Areas — Ayamelum, Anambra East, Anambra West, Orumba North, Awka North, Orumba South, Ihiala, Ogbaru and Aguata — participated in the event.
A panel from the Anambra State Ministry of Agriculture assessed the products based on criteria including economic value, processing, sustainability, nutritional value, packaging, value addition and compliance with agricultural practices.
Speaking on behalf of the panel, Victor Uchemba, an agricultural extension specialist at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, commended the participating farmers for improving the quality and marketability of their products.
The Director of Agro Market Square, John Okafor, also said the training was producing positive results, noting that the quality of products from Anambra farmers had improved considerably compared with previous years.
Okafor said his organisation partners with farmers in the off-take of both processed and unprocessed agricultural products.
He, however, called for increased government support through additional training, funding and agricultural inputs to sustain the progress.
He stressed that the ultimate goal was for farmers to successfully market their products, generate income, remain in business and create employment opportunities.
One of the participating farmers, Nnaemeka Agundu from Awka North, said the VCDP training had improved his knowledge of farm business, particularly in processing, packaging and marketing.
Agundu said the training had helped him expand his agro-business and improve his income, while expressing optimism that the agricultural fair would provide greater market visibility for participating farmers.
At the end of the product assessment, Orumba South emerged first, while Ihiala and Aguata placed second and third respectively.
By Enitan Mudashiru | MUK TV News
