Fostering Climate Resilient Upland Farming System in the North East (FOCUS) – a project funded by International Fund for Agriculture Development in Nagaland (IFAD) – held a two- day workshop on ‘Strengthening Project Interventions’ on 5 and 6 December at Capital Convention Hall, Kohima.
The workshop was attended by officers and staffs from the eight implementing project districts and staff from State Project Management Unit (SPMU) to improve the project deliverance of services.
Y Kikheto Sema, IAS, APC & MD FOCUS Nagaland, in the closing session encouraged all the staffs to perform diligently in all the jobs assigned to them. He pointed out the importance of external funds and projects coming into the State, stating that after 56 years of statehood, IFAD funded FOCUS project is the first Externally Aided Project implemented under Agri and Allied Department.
The project in its course of operation has faced numerous challenges, with its wide area coverage of 645 villages with limited human resource. Despite all the challenges, the project has achieved tangible impacts in the rural farming communities.
Sema thanked all the pioneers who were involved right from the beginning in the design and inception of the project for a smart climate resilient upland farming system. He also expressed his appreciation and thanked all Agriculture and Allied departments for giving the best effort and also for attaching their best officers to be in the project as Project Implementing Team.
The APC urged all team members to make the best use of remaining project periods as there is hardly 15 months for the project to wind up. He reminded and appealed all contractual staffs to continue rendering their best for the 1,433 employment opportunities that IFAD-FOCUS has created at PMU & DMU including Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW) and Lead farmers engaged as last mile delivery of the project.
He also appreciated the District Team Focus IFAD for presenting and sharing field experiences, which he said is an important aspect to retrospect on the project approach through the lesson learned and to move forward.
In his concluding remarks, Sema he urged everyone to work the extra mile in the last year of the project cycle and to leave a legacy behind.
