Twenty agricultural extension workers in Benue State have benefitted from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) distribution of training materials.
The organisation’s Focal Person for the training in Benue, Mr Frank Azuu, who disclosed this on Wednesday in the state capital, said the measure was intended to facilitate step-down training for farmers and herders in Guma, Makurdi, Logo and Kwande Local Government Areas (LGAs).
He said the LGAs were selected because of their volatility especially in farmers’/herders’ conflicts.
Nature News gathered that the items included fertilizers, premix, trays, cement, plastic buckets, bowls, molasses and stickers.
Azuu said the items were meant for the step-down training in the LGAs selected for the pilot scheme, stressing that the participants, mostly extension workers, were trained in methods of promoting peaceful coexistence between herders and other land users to avoid conflicts.
He said the extension workers had already been trained by facilitators from FAO during the ground-breaking, mobilisation and sensitisation phase.
They were also taught the strategies for harmonious coexistence by exploring alternative feedstock methods to guarantee food sufficiency.
The FAO consultant attached for the exercise in the state, Mr Idris Gabdo, said the organisation had a foolproof mechanism of monitoring the training.
Gabdo said the host government was made an implementing partner with the extension workers in each of the pilot states.
“The whole idea is for the state to provide the enabling environment for the project to succeed and assist in tracking the participants to their locations.
“We also have a platform where we record feedback from the participants.
“They report their activities with pictures and we use the Global Positioning System to monitor their exact locations as well,” Gabdo added.