News in brief: Farm inputs worth millions were distributed to 965 farmers in Oyo State through a partnership between the state’s agribusiness agency and the OYS-CARES program. The initiative, backed by the World Bank, aims to benefit 10,000 smallholder farmers and improve food security in the state.
Farm inputs worth millions of naira were recently distributed to 965 farmers in 12 local government areas of Oyo State under the state’s agribusiness development agency.
The agency partnered the Oyo State COVID-19 Action Response and Economic Stimulus (OYS-CARES) programme, a World Bank-backed project, to achieve the feat. A total of 10,000 smallholder farmers are expected to benefit from the exercise, according to media reports.
Beneficiaries included rice, maize, tomatoes and cassava farmers as well as trainees under the aegis of the Oyo State Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP).
The Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) distributed farm inputs such as cassava cuttings, rice seeds, tomato seeds, maize seeds, herbicides, and fertilisers.
Seyi Makinde, the state governor, had earlier promised to ameliorate farmer’s suffering across the 33 local government areas under his jurisdiction. The intervention was in line with his planned measures to alleviate the economic difficulties that residents were facing. Additionally, he noted that hardship induced by the removal of fuel subsidy made the move necessary, as well as the need to ensure food security.
The beneficiaries were full of gratitude to the state government for the initiative. YEAP trainees were especially thankful for the generosity as well as the skills they recently acquired after a state-sponsored training in Nasarawa state.
Executive Chairman of Ido local government, Sheriff Adeojo, in his remarks after the exercise, thanked the Oyo State governor for his efforts at boosting food security in the state. He commended the governorâs vision towards ensuring food sustainability across all geo-political zones of the State.
