The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Solomon Adeola has empowered over three thousand farmers across the twenty local government areas of the state as part of efforts to reduce poverty and tackle hunger in the country.
Senator Adeola stated this during the farmers’ empowerment and donation of farm equipment and inputs to over three thousand farmers drawn from the 20 local government areas of the State.
The senator representing Ogun West senatorial district noted that the empowerment programme was targeted at the addressing some of the challenges affecting farmers in line with the renewed hope agenda on food security of President Bola Tinubu administration.
“A Major highlight of the renew hope agenda on agriculture, Mister President, is the drive to endure all year round farming with the target for three farming season annually. I’ve earlier mentioned, this target has led President Tinubu to allocate over three rounds for the reticulation and distilling of various dams across the nation by all River Basin Development Authority to provide water for massive irrigation of farm land”
” The administration is working towards an holistic development of livestock sector of Agriculture and he has taken the initiative of establishing a full flying Ministry of livestock in Nigeria to address the challenges of livestock production, boost the production of various species of livestock nationwide. A total sum of 12 billion naira is budgeted for the ministry, and rankings will be established in seven states, including Lagos state and local state” he said.
He listed the challenge to include low productivity, lack of training in modern agricultural practices, costly farm implements and seedlings as well as limited access to funding.
Senator Adeola announced over 384 billion naira had been approved for farmers in the country to enable them to farm all year round towards achieving food security and sufficient.
He explained that the over three thousand beneficiaries had undergone two months rigorous training on the items that would be distributed, adding that the sum of one hundred thousand naira would be given to each beneficiary as a form financial empowerment.
Senator Adeola commended governor Dapo Abiodun for complementing the initiative of the federal level with a robust implementation of various assistance to farmers to produce massive in terms of improved seedling, improved seed and seedling distribution of fertilizer, allocation of free farmland to farmers.
Earlier, the Ogun State coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and food security, Dr Oluwatoyin Àjàyí had said that President Bola Tinubu was making conscious efforts at reducing the state of poverty nationwide through ensuring food availability and security.
Dr Àjàyí commended senator Adeola’s intervention geared towards supporting small holder farmers in senatorial district and in Ogun state at large to increase their productivity profitability and achieve food security.
Items distributed included tractors, fertilizers, water pump, insecticides, sprayers, cassava stem among others.
