Commissioners of agriculture in the six states of the South West have arrived at eight ways to boost food production in the zone.
The meeting, held under the auspices of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission, was convened as a fallout of the recent meeting of the South West governors in Lagos.
Among the resolutions at the meeting held in Ibadan were the commitment of the states to embark on massive land clearing and large-scale production of short-term crops like maize, sweet potatoes, and vegetables.
The meeting also identified the need to strengthen farm security by creating specialised units within the Amotekun corps, revitalising moribund dams for irrigation, and improving mechanisation across the value chain.
Other measures aimed at boosting agriculture in the region are adopting a cluster farming model, expanding input distribution, and establishing an electronic agriculture database.
The agricultural commissioners are expected to forward the recommendations to their governors to look at the mode of implementation.
Setting the tone for the meeting, Director General, Development Agenda for Western Agenda (DAWN) Commission, Mr. Seye Oyeleye, discountenanced notions that the South West had lost its capacity to produce its food and feed itself.
Present at the meeting were the five honourable commissioners for agriculture from Ekiti, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo: Ebenezer Boluwade, Bolu Owotomo, Olayato Aribo, Babatola Faseru, and Olasunkanmi Olaleye, respectively, while Mr Emmanuel Audu, the permanent secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, represented the state’s commissioner.
Other participants at the meeting were Dr. Theophilus Onadeko, the recently appointed Managing Director of the Southwest Agriculture Company, SWAgCo, a subsidiary of the Odu’a Investment Company Limited, and Chief Kola Akosile from NACCIMA.
Also in attendance were agriculture stakeholders like Akande Omoyemi from NIRSAL and Kumaraswamy Sai, head of marketing at Arise Industrial Platform, Ogun State.
ALSO READ THESE TOP STORIES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
