The German government has provided €2 million for the implementation of the second phase of the Competitive African Rice Initiative (CARI) in Nigeria with the support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Programme Director of CARI, Mr. Jean-Bernard Lalannehe, told journalists on Wednesday in Abuja that the second phase of the project known as CARI-2, would be implemented in Kebbi, Kaduna and Jigawa states in northern Nigeria.
He explained that the aim was to help smallholder farmers increase their income and provide their families and the country with high-quality rice.
CARI was launched in four African countries namely, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Tanzania in 2013.
It is a project of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development with financial support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Lalannehe also said that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development was implementing CARI-2, which started in June 2018, and it is expected to last till June 2021.
According to local media reports on Thursday, the project will be focused on business linkages in the rice sector to ensure that the producers are well connected with the markets, processors, rice millers, aggravators and input dealers.
“The first phase of the project ended in 2015, and CARI 2 is being implemented in the three Nigerian states to achieve its objective through the use of the Multi-Action Partnership
GIK/APA