Port Harcourt – The Federal Government has commended the achievements of the Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRMP) in spite of its funding constraints.
Mr. Oyesola Oyebanji, representing the Director, Rural Development Department of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this at the opening of CBNRMP’s 17th Supervision Mission in Port Harcourt.
He said that the programme should therefore be emulated by other donor-assisted programmes because of its success despite the challenges.
The programme is being jointly supervised by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
It is also being implemented in the nine Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom. Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Rivers and Ondo.
Oyebanji, also a Consultant to the National Programme for Food Security, said that the supervision mission was important because it is the last before the closure of the programme.
The closure is becoming inevitable because of the implied withdrawal of IFAD and NDDC funding.
Oyebanji said that the purpose of the supervision mission was to assess programme implementation, review the progress made so far and assess the exit strategy.
Oyebanji said that the programme “is unique in the sense that it is the only donor – assisted programme funded by two major financiers – IFAD and NDDC, with each contributing $15 million.”
He said that the major challenges comprised non-payment of counterpart funding by states and local governments, which prevented the draw down on IFAD funds, thereby hindering programme implementation.