FADAMA hosts Premiere Academy students on study visit

..Stresses role of youths in success of FG’s agriculture policy

The National Fadama Development Project has conducted a one-day study visit for students of Premiere Academy to the Project’s FADAMA House Complex as part of the school’s effort to bridge classroom learning with real-world, practical applications.

FADAMA House in Abuja serves as the central coordinating office for the National Fadama Development Project which is a World Bank-supported initiative designed to boost agricultural production, enhance food security, and reduce poverty through sustainable land and water management.
The Abuja facility includes specialized agricultural units, such as a rice paddy laboratory set up in partnership with the Federal Government and JICA to grade rice paddy, measure moisture content, and assess quality,.

The study visit provided an intensive learning opportunity for students to receive hands-on education on live agricultural ecosystems, irrigation methodologies, and dry-season farming techniques utilized in fadama (floodplain/low-lying) areas.
The students were received by the Program’s Director of Agric Business and marketing (ABM), Dr. Olawumi Ayodele, and a host of other officers from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
In his welcome remarks, Dr. Ayodele noted that the National Fadama Development Project (NFDP), incorporated by the government to address the challenge of poverty in Nigeria, started in 1990 and is being implemented in 36 states and Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. He described the students’ visit as a commendable effort to get the nation’s future leaders to properly understand the mandate of the Project as well as the Federal Government’s Agriculture and Food Security policy.
He said such move was a welcomed initiative to establish the central role of the nation’s youth population in the renewed hope agenda of the government, especially in the area of national agricultural and food security renewal.
He, therefore, charged the students to use the opportunity of the practical training gained from the visit not only in their academics but to become better prepared as future leaders ready to make an impact on the nation’s development journey when their time comes.
Explaining the importance of the visit, Premiere Academy’s Principal, Mr. Chris Akinsowon said, given the school’s focus on future-ready innovation and its operational policy of total education without borders, the visit to the FADAMA facility allowed students to examine how modern irrigation systems and green energy can enhance agricultural yield.
He also noted that the visit exposed the students to agribusiness supply chains, environmental preservation, and community-driven development programs aimed at driving national self-reliance.
“By stepping outside the traditional classroom environment to experience the practical sides of what they learn in school, the students are encouraged to actively analyze food security and sustainability issues, preparing them to be future problem solvers in Nigeria’s evolving economic landscape,” he submitted.