By Ameen K. Yassar
Islamic Development Bank Vice President, Dr. Mansur Mukhtar, during the weekend, paid a surprise visit to the office of Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project, KSADP, in Kano city, North-west Nigeria.
The unscheduled visit, which was his first to the project office, was to familiarize himself with its activities, which focus on improving crop production and enhancing livestock productivity in Kano, Nigeria’s most populous state.
Funded by the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihood Funds, LLF, the KSADP’s overall objective is to contribute to reducing poverty and strengthening food and nutrition security in the state by developing agro-pastoral production systems, targeting mainly smallholder farmers and pastoralists as well as key actors involved in the value chain of agro-pastoralism namely, agricultural produce processors, marketers, input suppliers, and financial institutions.
Speaking during the visit, the Vice President said: “The bank has been monitoring your performance and your example has been showcased a number of times during our meetings with the LLF”.
“I am surprised that during the weekend, the Project Management Unit is working almost full house. I am impressed that you are working very hard to meet the bank’s expectations”.
“I am here briefly, to see how you work, and I’m pleased that you are taking your work seriously. From the reports we have received so far, your project is moving on well”.
Dr. Mukhtar, while charging the Project Management Unit to maintain the work culture, assured of the bank’s determination to address their challenges, if any, to ensure the project’s continued success.
The State Project Coordinator, Kano State Agro-Pastoral Development Project, KSADP, Ibrahim Garba Muhammad who was visibly astonished, said such high-level visits would provide impetus to drive the project.
“The project is making steady progress towards impacting the lives of farmers and pastoralists in Kano, in line with the IsDB/LLF theory of change”, he maintained.
The coordinator was, however, concerned that inflation is affecting the projects’ contract awards, adding that this and the issue of co-financing needed to be addressed by the bank, so as not to impede the pace of the overall project delivery.
Yassar is Project Communication Specialist at KSADP
