A non-profit organisation, Diamond Development Initiatives (DDI), says it has assisted no fewer than 600,000 farmers with technical support, in its bid to reduce unemployment and alleviate poverty in the country.
Executive Director of DDI, Mr Adamu Garba, disclosed this at an event organised to celebrate the organisation’s 20th anniversary on Tuesday in Abuja.
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He said that the beneficiaries were drawn from 29 out of the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said that the organisation had also provided connections for no fewer than 2,000 businesses in the country.
Garba added that the organisation focused on providing technical assistance in the design, planning and implementation of various development initiatives in the country.
“Some of our focus areas include business support and enterprise management, agricultural value chain improvement, renewable and off-grid energy support, youth and women-led enterprise support and agriculture, among others.
“More than 600,000 farmers have been assisted, while no fewer than 20,000 farmer-groups and cooperative societies have been assisted and 8,000 off-grid energy connections have been provided for rural households.
“We also have over 2,000 connections to businesses. These are good figures we are happy about and we have also been able to work with over 60 off-grid energy entrepreneurs to provide off-grid energies to households,” he said.
Chairperson, Board of Trustees of the organisation, Dr Lydia Umar, said that the organisation would continue to provide developmental assistance in the country.
On his part, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, represented by Hajia Maryam Uwais, commended the organisation for its support in reducing the rate of poverty in the country.