Agbekoya seeks govt's support on food security

IF Nigeria is to starve off famine that stares it in the face now, the right path to take is for the government at both federal and the states to support efforts by farmer groups to aggressively transform the agricultural sector of the economy. This view was canvassed by Chief Kamorudeen Aremu Okikiola, President, Agbekoya Farmers' Asociation at the inauguration of the Osun State chapter of the association in Osogbo recently. Okikiola noted that the era of paying lip service to food sufficiency in the country was gone for good, as a nation that cannot feed itself will be at the mercy of those feeding it with the danger of compromising its security. He stated that the association, with 275 co-operatives and over 150,000 farmers spread across 20 states the country, is the biggest farmers group in Nigeria and West Africa. The Agbekoya Farmers' Association, according to Okikiola, has cultivated 65,000 hectares of farmland to plant cassava, maize, rice, yam, oil palm, cocoa and sorghum to make food abundant for the citizenry. He, therefore, solicited the support of the Federal government and states across the country for one digit interest loans, incentives like machinery, seedlings, insecticides, sprayers etc to complement the efforts of the association at attaining food security in the country. Okikiola revealed that the association will set up three model agricultural farm settlements in the three senatorial districts of Osun State in partnership with the state government. The farm settlements, according to him, will accommodate 2,000 hectares of land to engage farmers in the production of cassava, rice, oil palm, maize, raise 1.2 million chickens and produce annually 29 million tons of fish. Ccommissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, State of Osun, reiterated the resolve of the state government to partner with Agbekoya Farmers' Association in view of their shared vision on the food crisis facing the country.'I am very pleased to note that the Agbekoya's paramount objective of ensuring food security in the country rhymes fittingly with one of the most crucial cardinal goals in the six 'point integral action plans of this administration. This is to banish hunger and ensure food security. This, we have decided to accomplish through an aggressive and unwavering commitment to the development of agriculture in the state,'' he said. He explained further that efforts at ensuring security and development will be an exercise in futility unless food security was fully guaranteed first.
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