As part of effort to put an end to importation of rice into Nigeria and boost the the nation’s economy, civil servants in Ekiti state have moved invested heavily in local rice production, ready to harvest 375 hectares of rice farm.
With this move, civil servants expressed confidence that the state will overcome the problems of food insecurity by next year and rebound its economy through the harvest and continuous investment in rice production and processing.
The State Head of Service, Olugbenga Faseluka stated that stone free, fresh rice that was locally produced by government workers would be available in the markets before the end of the year.
Speaking in Ado Ekiti at a public lecture titled “Agricultural Finance in Medium/Large Scale agriculture business “, Faseluka disclosed that groups of farmers made up of public servants under the aegis of the Agberemi Farmers Confederation has commenced harvesting a 375 hectare rice farm at Oke-Ako and Eyemero Ekiti.
The civil servants’ boss who is a prominent member of the Farmers’ Confederation, explained that public servants in Ekiti decided to go into commercial agriculture to address the challenges of hunger and want amongst the people, noting that farming remained the only business allowed for civil servants by the extant rules of the public service.
He expressed confidence that the rice farm initiative would contribute immensely towards efforts at guaranteeing food security and ensuring self-sufficiency.
In his remarks, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Kehinde Odebunmi commended the State Public Service for coming up with different agric initiatives in line with the cardinal programme of the Fayose-led government to develop the agric sector.
He said the success stories recorded by the different public servant farmers groups in the State are testimonies that the agriculture summit organized by the state government in 2016 was productive.
In his lecture, a retired Director in Ghana’s Ministry of Agriculture, Minka Fordjour noted that agribusiness can play a significant role in Africa’s economic transformation even as he stated that the sector
has the capacity to provide jobs and income opportunities through agro-processing and other agric businesses.
Fordjour who identified finance as a major challenge in agribusiness listed sources of funding for agric projects to include foreign banking and grant institutions, money lenders, and domestic banking institutions especially the Bank of Agriculture.
RAPHAEL ADEYANJU, Ado Ekiti
