John Shiklam in Kaduna
The Kaduna State Agro Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) project is to establish 15 cottage processing centres across the state to reduce post-harvest loses and low income in the agriculture sector.
The Communication Officer of the project, Muhammad Amin, disclosed this yesterday in a statement in Kaduna.
Amin said the centres were being constructed to address three value chains-Dairy, Ginger and Maize products under the Kaduna APPEALS project.
According to him, the centres will be provided with equipment, capable of handling post-harvest produce, including machines for storage, cleaning, sorting, processing and packaging.
He said the cottage processing centre for maize has the capacity to process 50,000 tons of maize in a year without going through much stress.
Amin said the centres for milk collection would help preserve milk for future use and make it availability for producing dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt.
The statement noted that ginger is yet another important crop that provides more wealth in Nigeria, stressing that increase in its processing and packaging will make it more available in large quantity.
Amin explained further that another positive impact of the cottage processing centres is the provision of employment opportunities which will go a long way in fostering economic growth and development.
He said: “The APPEALS project has deemed it necessary to provide trainings to organised groups on how to operate and maintain the equipment in the cottage processing centres.”
The statement commended the state government for its efforts in creating more wealth to the people through agriculture.
