No fewer than 8,800 smallholder farmers across the 20 Local Government Areas of Ogun State have received agricultural inputs and assets as well as infrastructural supports via OGUN CARES FADAMA to boost the output of farming enterprises.
Presenting the items to the benefiting farmers at OGUN CARES FADAMA’s premises, OGADEP, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, the Commissioner for Agriculture, that Owotomo said the State Governor, Dapo Abiodun knows the plights of farmers occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic and is committed to alleviating such through various intervention programmes.
According to the Commissioner, items distributed include 14,000 Day Old Chicks, 560 bags of chick feed, 209 fish feed, fish smoking kin, 500 bags of fertiliser, eight motorised sprayers, 75 rechargable knapsack sprayers, 13 cassava graters, pressers, bowls for fermenting cassava, iron pots, protective kits among others.
Other support provided by the state includes rehabilitation of 24 roads renovation of culverts, water drainages and provision of bore-holes for water supplies at four wet markets where food processing takes place. This i aimed at improving hygiene and reducing food contamination.
He enjoined the beneficiaries to join hands with FADAMA Team and make judicious use of the items to maximize the inherent profitabilities while imploring farmers who are yet to benefit from the project not to lose hope but be patient as the distributions are being done in batches,
“Utilise it for the purpose it was meant for, to turn around your agric businesses for maximum profits and in turn contribute meaningfully to the economy of the State”, the Commissioner said.
The Head, State CARES Coordinating Unit, Mr. Bayo Adenekan, explained that Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (NG-CARES), domesticated as OGUN-CARES was a Federal Government initiative with support of the World Bank which Ogun State Government has accepted to bail out the vulnerable and poor households out of the brunt of COVID-19 pandemic. He assures farmers that more distributions are still in the offing for them.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Samuel Adeogun said over 10,000 farmers have been assisted from the project since inception and the beneficiaries have been sending good reports on how the inputs and assets have bettered their lots, telling the farmers not to be far from the Community Facilitators posted to their various Local Government for needed guidance, advisory and extension services.
In his welcome address, the Project Manager, OGUN-CARES FADAMA Mr. Babatunde Beckley, congratulated the benefiting farmers and urged them to work in unity in their various communities to maximize the opportunities.
Speaking on behalf of other beneficiaries, Mrs Temitope Solomon from Sagamu Local Government and Mr Olufemi Ayodele from Abeokuta South Local Government, applauded the State and Fedetal governments for the grants, promising to effectively utilize the items and infrastructures for increased productivity and bumper harvests.
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