Oyo govt seals N220m agric project deal with 7 communities

About seven communities in Oyo State are to benefit from three micro earth dams to be constructed at more than N220 million.The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Daniel Kolade, who made the announcement at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the state government and the communities in Ibadan at the weekend, urged the communities to make good use of the dams when completed.He said the project was sponsored by the National Programme for Food Security (NPFS) and Arab Bank for Economic Development (BADEA) under a joint micro earth dam water scheme.Kolade added that the initiative, which was to boost food security, employment creation and poverty alleviation, was being carried out only in Oyo, Ogun, Kaduna and Katsina states.He congratulated the communities on the achievement, and urged them to cooperate with the construction firm.The Regional Head, National Food Reserve Agency, Ibadan, Mr Adegbola Olusi, had earlier said the South West, especially Oyo State, could embark on all-year round farming to produce crops, such as pepper and tomato.He said that once the dams were fully in operation, tomato consumers in the South West would no longer rely on farmers in the northern part of the country during the off-season farming activities.Olusi said the agency would set up a team to monitor the use and maintenance of the dams by the seven communities.Responding on behalf of the benefiting communities, the Akibio of Ilora, Oba Stephen Oluwafemi, assured BADEA and the Federal Government of support in the execution of the projects.He said the communities would ensure adequate use and maintenance of the dams, adding that the projects would curb youth restiveness by creating employment.The communities involved in the MoU are Ilora (Afijio Local Government); Ibapon (Ogbomoso South Local Government); Fasola, (Oyo West Local Government); Idere (Ibarapa Central Local Government); Ado-Awaye (Iseyin Local Government), Batake (Ido Local Government) and Onidundu (Akinyele Local Government).Three old earth dams that had earlier been constructed in three other communities are also to be rehabilitated.The communities are Kosi (Irepo Local Government), Akufo (Ido LGA) and Pade (Akinyele Local Government).
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