News in brief:
-Â Over 350,000 farm families in Ogun State are set to benefit from federal government initiatives aimed at cultivating 500,000 hectares of land for dry-season farming.
– The state government is actively preparing for the initiative, having registered over 50,000 farmers and conducted a three-day training on data management and ICT application to ensure accurate information and compliance with federal guidelines.
Over 350,000 farm families in Ogun State are set to benefit from various initiatives launched by the federal government, according to a statement by the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Bolu Owotomo.
Owotomo made this announcement during a three-day capacity-building training on data management and ICT application for staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security in Abeokuta. He emphasised the state government’s commitment to food security and its efforts to leverage all available resources to achieve this goal.
Highlighting the impact of the project, he revealed that farming families in Ogun State will have access to the federal government initiatives geared towards the cultivation of 500,000 hectares of land for dry-season farming across the country.
The state commissioner of agriculture also declared the state government’s preparedness for the initiative by registering over 50,000 farmers for participation. He stressed the importance of accurate data and information in planning and executing agricultural programs, hence the need to train ministry staff on data management and ICT skills.
Dr. Oluseyi Olugbire, the Agric Project Manager for the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project and organizer of the training, echoed Dr. Owotomo’s sentiments. He highlighted that the acquired skills would empower the ministry’s staff to seamlessly integrate basic ICT tools into their daily operations, further streamlining processes and enhancing overall efficiency
These trainings are likely to ensure that the state complies with the federal government’s decision to ensure accurate data for the widespread farming activities. Recall that Abubakar Kyari, the minister of agriculture, had blamed inaccurate data for many failed government food policies. To prevent this from repeating, he stated that there will be agents on ground verifying data that participating states submit.
