The Ekiti State Government has said that it is deeply committed to actualising its pledge of using agriculture as a catalyst to achieve industrialisation, food security and economic prosperity.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Ebenezer Boluwade who made the pledge while featuring a live audience participation programme on Radio in Ado-Ekiti, said the Oyebanji administration had, in the last 18 months, put in deliberate efforts to transform agriculture from its current mainly subsistence nature to a mechanised one.
He said this was done through the promotion of agribusiness, value chain addition in farming, aggressive free land clearing for communities and a tractorisation scheme, “ that is heavily subsidised for farmers as well as agribusiness and creation of investor friendly initiatives.”
While stressing that the recent signing of a multimillion dollar Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Governor Oyebanji with Cavista Holdings to establish a state-of-the-art cassava processing plant that will require farmland spanning 100,000 hectares within the State and its environ, “ is a clear indication that the Governor’s efforts were yielding the required positive results.”
Boluwade stressed that with the favourable climate, abundant fertile arable land, willing and able-bodied youths available in the State coupled with the passion of the Governor Oyebanji to optimize the State agricultural assets, the State is on the path to economic prosperity.
He said as one of the states with the highest cassava yield in Nigeria, efforts are also in gear to change the narrative of cassava cultivation in the State into an attractive business by finding ready market for the producers of the commodity for processing.
He added that cassava had gone beyond the normal food crop that was consumed locally to become a hot cake in the world market as over 100 derivatives including ethanol, cassava flour, starch, and chips are currently being manufactured from the commodity.
According to him, “Ekiti State is one of the highest producers of Cassava in Nigeria. The commodity grows well in every part of the State. With the market-led-transaction policy we are introducing, there will be ready market for the product. With our tractorisation and cluster farming policies, cost of operations will be reduced for our farmers. Marketing of their products will also be easy.”
He said the Oyebanji administration under the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES), a world bank sponsored programme is taking steps towards upgrading the old abattoir in Ado-Ekiti into a 21st century fully mechanised abattoir while efforts were also being geared towards supporting all segments of the livestock value chain including poultry, fishery farming, cattle ranching as well as goat and sheep rearing under the scheme.
The Commissioner disclosed that the State Government, in collaboration with L-PRES was working towards upgrading the State veterinary hospital in the State Capital into a centre where certain veterinary diagnostic tests can take place while veterinary clinics will be established in all 16 LGAs in the State.
Boluwade said though it has been relatively peaceful since the beginning of the year between the farmers and herders in the state, the State Government has been taking proactive steps to ensure the peace continues to reign through regular interface with the Miyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association, All Famers Association of Nigeria(AFAN), the security agencies while the State Government recently recruited 300 Agro Marshals in the State to compliment the efforts of the Amotekun Corps and Anti Grazing Management Committee.
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