The Kwara State government, in collaboration with the World Bank, the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA), and the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (LPRES), has so far trained 700 out of the planned 1,000 extension agents and farmers towards ensuring food security and sufficiency in the state.
Speaking during the weeklong capacity training program on small ruminant production and crop residue processing for improved utilisation by ruminants, packaged by the Synergy Impact Consultants at the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Ilorin, Kwara State, the Senior Adviser, Counsellor to Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Saadudeen Salahudeen, said that the extension agents and farmers are capable of making positive impacts on the life of Kwara State.
The governor’s aide, who said that the participants were drawn from different backgrounds and classes, such as livestock and crop farmers, retired civil servants, and youths from rural communities, said that they are expected to chart a new path in the state’s agro-economy.
He also said that the participants are expected to contribute their quota individually and collectively to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s commitment to ensuring food security and sufficiency in Kwara State.
Alhaji Salahudeen said that the state government is delighted at the impact of the LPRES activities in partnership with the state government to turn the agriculture sector around, adding that the participants are out for wealth creation.
“One of the current challenges of the country is the high level of unemployment. And the solution is no longer white-collar jobs. It’s about entrepreneurship. You’re out to be multi-billionaire entrepreneurs if each of you makes the best of the skills you’ve acquired because the market is there,” he said.
The governor’s aide said that it is the expectation of the government that the participants make the maximum benefit of the skills acquired in the weeklong capacity training, “in your life as entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector, in the community you represent, and in the larger society.
“The state government has made the security of lives and property a priority in the last six years. Kwara has the least record of states with farmer/herder crises. The governor has given adequate security measures to the state since assuming office. This fact has been attested to by security chiefs who have commended the governor for prioritising security.”
“So, paramount too is food security as being promoted by the state governor. That is why Tinubu created the Federal Ministry of Livestock. The governor has reiterated the determination of the government at all levels to improve the livestock sector of agriculture. And this training is part of the manifestation.
“He has given all that’s needed to farmers to boost agriculture and food production. He also invested in the provision of inputs to not less than 600,000 smallholder farmers. The governor also procured, delivered, and handed over tractors to each of the 16 local government areas in the state, as opposed to the absence before now. These are part of the measures taken by the governor to ensure that Kwara State experiences a bumper harvest, which is about to happen,” he said.
Also speaking, the new chairman of the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA), Alhaji Abdullateef Alakawa, commended the state governor for the foresight to make agriculture paramount in his agenda.
Alakawa also said that the future of Nigeria is agriculture and agribusiness, adding that, “this era is that of the knowledge economy, and you (participants) are the people that will pass the knowledge across to the right quarters.”
Also, a non-executive director of the NNPC, Dr Ghali Alaaya, special adviser (special duty) to the governor, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Jiddah, senior special assistant (religion), Alhaji Dan Maigoro, and the governor’s aide on media, Alhaji Bashir Adigun, thanked the state government for the selection of the participants while saying that the training programme is capable of ensuring food security.
READ MORE FROM: NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
