The World Bank through the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme[WAAP] has donated four mango drying equipment worth $280,000 to some farmers in Nigeria for the production of mango chips.
Speaking at the Commissioning of one of the equipment in Sabo -Wuse in Niger State, the National Project Coordinator of WAAP, Prof. Damian Chikwendu, explained that the donation of these equipment for the processing or production of mango chips was intended to reduce post-harvest losses suffered by farmers as well as create jobs especially for the teeming youths and women in the rural areas which would in turn, mitigate rural-urban migration.
Chikwendu noted that it was the first time that these machines would be provided for farmers free of charge, adding that the machines would go a long way in reducing post-harvest losses which farmers have been grappling with in Nigeria.
The four equipment, he further explained, were given to Commercial Farmers in Lagos, Niger, Benue and Gombe States.
He also commended one of the beneficiaries of the equipment and the Executive Chairman of Longa-Ewa Lakes Limited, Njidda Ahmed, for the giant strides the farm has made within the short time it has embarked on the production of mango chips.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman of Longa-Ewa Lakes Limited, commended the World Bank for its kind gesture, assuring that the production of mango chips would assist tremendously in reducing the post-harvest losses in mango production.
Ahmed said he had already planted over 3,000 mango trees that would serve as source of raw material for the production of mango chips, apart from the purchase of truckloads of mangoes from the mango producing States in Nigeria.
He expressed joy that through the assistance of the Work Bank, his farm would add value to mango through the processing of the chips.
Source: Allafrica.com