Taking pride in her comparative natural advantage of arable land, proximity to Lagos and housing of end user companies, Ogun State is supporting young rice and cassava farmers for food security, job creation and export production.
Ogun State is one of the leading participants in the IFAD/FG Value Chain Programme and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme, even as it is the largest producer of cassava in Nigeria as well as the largest producer of rice in southwestern Nigeria.
According to the State Commissioner of Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina, the Central Bank has disbursed Seven Hundred Million Naira (N700,000,000) to five thousand, one hundred young farmers to grow cassava and another three hundred million Naira (N300,000,000) to 1,000 young rice farmers within a season, a process that was facilitated by the State Government in collaboration with farmers organization. Some of the beneficiaries were drawn from the State's job portal.
The Commissioner added that under the IFAD/FG Value Chain Programme, the sum of three hundred and sixty million Naira (N360,000,000) was also disbursed as credit linkage to 8,000 people to grow rice and cassava. The Commissioner noted that this is happening for the first time in the history of Ogun State.
These are in line with the commitment of the State Government under the leadership of Prince Dapo Abiodun, MFR to create self-sustainability, make raw materials available for industries, promote export to other states and countries, and create jobs.
The Hon. Commissioner, Dr Odedina stated that the mass reconstruction of roads in the State is not unconnected to the support that the government is providing for offtakers and processors in the agriculture sector. He added that the government is not focusing on urban areas only, but also semi-urban and rural areas to ease movement of raw materials, farm produce and finished goods.
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