The Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) in Nigeria recently hosted representatives of the donors and sponsors of the Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) project on July 20-21st, 2024. The delegation, led by Adil Sharif, the Head of the Lives and Livelihoods Funds (LLF) mission to Kano State, included representatives from the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief), the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development (ISFD), the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD).

According to Sharif, officials of the LLF and the coalition of donors were on a working visit to assess the progress of the Kano State Agropastoral Development Project (KSADP).

The Country Director Dr Godwin Atser and the Project Coordinator, KSADP/SAA Hamisu Kofarmata made presentations during a meeting with the donors.

In his welcome address, the SAA-Nigeria Country Director, Dr Godwin Atser, expressed SAA’s pleasure in hosting the delegation. He assured them that the visit would be fruitful as the KSADP/SAA project had made tremendous strides in enhancing the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Kano by introducing them to new technologies, climate-smart agriculture, post-harvest loss reduction, processing, market and nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

Following a presentation by the project coordinator, Abdulrasheed Kofarmata, on the achievements of the KSADP/SAA since its inception, the SAA-NG Deputy Country Director, Dr Abdulhamid Gambo, led the delegation and members of the State Project Management Unit (PMU) on a tour of the KSADP/SAA project sites. The field trip included visits to Kura and Garun Mallam Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.

The delegation visited the KSADP/SAA Medium Scale Parboiling Centre in the Karfi Community, the Artificially Aerated Onion Storage Facility in the Gun-Dutse Community, and a Rice Demonstration Plot in Kura. In addition to touring the facility, the visitors held interactive sessions with beneficiaries. Before leaving each site, beneficiaries presented the visitors with processed and packaged products made possible by the project’s intervention.