Governor Abubakar o Bauchi StateSome women in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi, on Wednesday said the Livelihood and Nutritional Empowerment (LINE) Programme, being implemented in their localities, had impacted on their lives positively.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the programme is jointly funded by the Bauchi state government, OXFAM, the Canadian government, and Global Affairs Canada (GAC).

The intervention is targeted at women in Kumbus and Jibam communities of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State, as well as women in five other Local Government Areas, namely Alkaleri, Darazo, Ningi, Gamawa and Shira.

In separate interviews with NAN, the women said that the intervention had enhanced the living condition of beneficiaries and their families by reducing their poverty.

“Mrs Gambo Abdullahi, a maize farmer from Kumbus community, said she had almost lost faith in farming, until she started benefitting from the LINE initiative.

“I am a mother of eight children and other dependents, most of who are not in school due to the lack of finances to buy basic school needs.

“But my perception changed a few months ago when I was registered as a beneficiary of the LINE project to represent my family and since then, my interest had known no bounds.

“I am now a member of KUMBUS “A” Farmers Multi-purpose Cooperative, which has 15 active members,” she said.

Abdullahi said her cooperative group was committed to the success, adding that regular meetings took place to ensure team work and proper adaptation of training modules and guidelines.

She said that beneficiaries were taken through a three LINE project training that included cooperative leadership and governance, pre-planting training and best methods for planting maize.

The woman farmer said that beneficiaries had also received maize seedlings and crop protection inputs from the project.

Abdullahi said she had been putting into practice, what she was taught and the result had been very positive.

“Now, I am hopeful that all my children will be able to attend school. “I feel blessed and hope that the gesture will be replicated in other communities as well to alleviate poverty,” she said.

Also speaking to NAN, Mrs Bariya Yau of Jibam Farmers Development Association said that before the sensitization exercise, many residents were reluctant to key into the OXFAM’s LINE project.

“Many of the residents were initially reluctant to participate due to failure of similar projects intended for the communities.

“The day we were selected and registered as beneficiaries of the project, my husband was skeptical and would probably not have allowed me to participate.

“Eventually, we were given farm inputs free of charge; we have planted our crops and are waiting for fertilizer that had been promised.

“Our soil is not very fertile, as such the expected yield will not be realised without adequate fertilizers,” she said.

Yau said that beneficiaries were now in cooperative groups where they exchanged knowledge they had acquired from the training given to them by the project.

She said they had now initiated a savings culture from their weekly contributions.

“Money collected is saved for emergencies and other urgent needs, as members are allowed to borrow from the pool and pay back within a week,’’ she said.

According to her, women in the community have now seen the need to work together for the betterment of their homes and lives of their husbands and children.

Dr Francis Sa’ayinzat, Bauchi state Project Team leader of OXFAM, Dr Francis Sa’ayinzat, told NAN that no fewer than 90 beneficiaries in Kumbus, Jibam and Gaso communities, were participating in the programme.

According to him, the project is aimed at reducing poverty and sufferings among vulnerable farmers by assisting them improve yields from subsistence level to commercial quantity.

He said 1000 households were targeted for the nutritional aspect of the project, adding that over 14 million Canadian dollars was earmarked for the project.

He explained that project intends impacting on the lives of 10,000 beneficiaries in vulnerable rural farmer households directly and over 80,000 indirect beneficiaries.

(NAN)