Consider cashew as alternative to oil, farmers charge FG

Cashew Farmers in Oyo State have charged the Federal Government to take concrete steps towards diversifying the nation’s economy in response to the adverse impact of the coronavirus pandemic on oil, the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy.

The farmers, who operate mainly in the Ogbomoso axis of Oyo State also noted that encouraging massive investment by the young and old in cashew farming was a sure way of creating a solution to the economic downturn that COVID-19 had left in its wake.

Reverend Akanni Zaccheus Olusanjo of A.O ZAC Nigeria Enterprises in Iresa Apa and Mr. Oyekunle Gbemiga Collins of OBT Integrated Services and Divine Dopacy Nig. Limited Ogbomoso, who made the call in a statement said the acute drop in the oil price was a pointer to the need for Nigeria to diversify the economy.

Also speaking in the same vein, Alhaji Raheem Lateef Adebayo of Tolanlat Ventures Enterprises said the youths should embrace massive cashew plantation “because it is one of the major solutions as far as economic diversification from oil economy is concerned in Nigeria.”

According to the entrepreneurs, with the current spread of COVID-19 pandemic which has “greatly affected our economy leading to the drop from $57 per barrel of oil to $20 per barrel and with the slowdown in the sales of crude-oil  in the world market, the only solution now is for our government to encourage agriculture especially cash-crop farming.”

White collar jobs are no longer available they noted, saying “cashew business is a very lucrative one if youths can devote their time and attention to it and that it is also a very good international business.”

They however urged the youths not to also lose focus on other farming activities like cocoa farming, palm oil farming, sugar-cane farming, food crop farming, fishery and animal rearing among others all of which would help in no small measure at boosting our economy and making us to become one of the economic sustainable nation among the nations of the world.

They however used the medium to appeal to the federal government to assist the cashew farmers and traders in terms of creating an encouraging and easy way of marketing their products to the countries of the world.

While speaking on the corona-virus pandemic, they urged Nigerians to take to all the precautionary measures being listed by the World Health Organisation, NCDC, Federal Government as well as the medical experts so that we can all stay safe and live a healthy life, saying that Corona-Virus is real and deadly and that the only solution to get rid of it is to abstain totally from all the things that can make them to contract it.

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