The Federal Government, through the ministry of agriculture and food security has commenced work with the state governments to develop a credible database of farmers across the country.
This, according to Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture and food security, was essential to ensure that intervention programmes get to the right farmers and aid their productivity.
The minister, who received Governor Abiodun Oyebanji of Ekiti State, on Thursday, said the government needed to tackle challenges such as round-tripping in connivance with agro-dealers and poor validation of farmers’ data observed during the ongoing dry season wheat farming.
“The federal ministry of agriculture and food security is committed to addressing the issue of round-tripping and poor validation of farmers’ data. We are dedicated to implementing stringent measures in the forthcoming dry/wet season farming for rice, maize, and cassava, to ensure transparent distribution and target genuine farmers. Collaboration with states, local governments, traditional rulers, local farmers’ associations, NGOs, and relevant MDAs will be crucial in achieving the desired objectives.
“We seek the support of all stakeholders in the agricultural sector to overcome the challenges and ensure a successful intervention despite time constraints. The second phase of the dry/wet season farming intervention is expected to commence this month, and we are determined to make it a success,” he said.
The governor on his part, said that efforts were ongoing to empower farmers in the state.
According to him, “In most countries, farmers are the richest but here they are the poorest, simply because they work for middlemen.
“The first thing for us is to change the orientation of farmers by letting them know that farming is a business and that it is not just the normal use of cutlasses. We are changing the orientation, we have provided support concerning land clearing and seedlings. We have connected them with grants and loans that don’t have too much interest. Noting that farming was the major economic activity in Ekiti, Oyebanji said that his visit was aimed at strengthening collaboration towards improved food production in the state.
“We are trying to cut off middlemen and to link them with aggregators directly so that they can prosper doing this business. Also, we are providing infrastructure, including roads and access to electricity.
“We need to upscale what we are doing, that is why we are here to explore collaboration with the ministry in areas like agro pocket scheme, dry and wet season farming, mechanisation and tractorisation.”
