Lagos APPEALS (PDO)

Project Development Objectives (PDO)

The objective of the Project is to enhance agricultural productivity of small and medium scale farmers and improve value addition along priority value chains in the Participating States.

The PDO will be achieved through supporting farmers’ productivity and their linkage to markets, facilitating consolidation of agricultural products and cottage processing, facilitating farmers and small and medium businesses’ clustering and connection to infrastructure network and business services, providing technical assistance (TA) and institutional support both to beneficiaries, federal and state governments in value chain development. Increased productivity, production, and improving processing and marketing of the targeted value chains are expected to foster job creation along value chains.

The project support will focus on priority value chains as identified in Agricultural Promotion Policy-The Green Alternative (APP-2016-2020), through facilitating business alliances, promotion of greater farmers-agri-business linkages, and support to critical infrastructure in value chain development. Priority value chains selected from the APP long list for the purpose of project support are:

• (i) staples with quick returns and benefits;
• (ii) products with potential for immediate improvement of food security;
• (iii) value chains to enhance the national production of crops (rice, maize, cassava and wheat);
• (iv) products with a potential for export and foreign currency earnings (cocoa and cashew);
• and (v) short-cycle, quick income generating high value products for livelihood improvement, particularly suitable for women and youth businesses such as horticulture, poultry and aquaculture.

While many, if not all of these value chains, may have dual or triple purposes, each participating state will focus on three promising value chains. This will allow for greater impact and a focused approach, with priority given to structuring value chains with potential for geographic and vertical integration across the states (for example, maize can be integrated into the animal feed industry to support the development of poultry and aquaculture value chain and geographically along the North West- South West corridor).