Oyo govt, Farmcrowdy partner on $5m agric project

Nurudeen Alimi

Oyo State government has entered into a partnership with a renown digital agriculture marketing platform, Farmcrowdy, to boost agricultural development in the state.

During the official launch of the partnership which was held at Golden Tulip, Jericho, Ibadan, on Monday, the state governor, Mr Seyi  Makinde,  stated that the present administration in the state is doing everything possible to upgrade the economic status of the state and agriculture is the route to be adopted.

The governor further said: “During the electioneering campaign, I promised the people of Oyo State that we would have a practical farmer as Commissioner for agriculture and that is exactly what we have done.

“The gap between policy and implementation will be filled effectively. We are not looking at agriculture as just planting and extension work, we are looking at it as a business and that is why we went out to look for the best hands on continent who happens to also be from Oyo state, in person of Dr Debo Akande to drive oyo state agribusiness venture. He is here now as an Executive Assistant to the governor, so we believe effectively we are bridging the gap.”

He concluded by assuring the people of Oyo state that the $5 million partnership with Farmcrowdy would surely have positive impact on their lives while describing the development as an agricultural revolution which he said would grow like wildfire.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Farmcrowdy, Onyeka Akuma, said:”We are investing about $5m dollars in agribusiness in Oyo state within the next three years and connecting not less than 50,000 small scale farmers in the state with solutions to various bottlenecks militating the growth of their farm business. At the end, everyone would be happy with the outcome of the project.”

Executive Assistant to the governor of of Oyo state on agribusiness, Dr Debo Akande, while speaking during the launch said:”We can not continue to agriculture the same way and expect different result.

“Agribusiness is about looking into the technical, business and management aspect of agriculture. We as a state can not do it alone, we would leverage the opportunities abound in the private sector. To get these done, quite a number of partnerships would go a long way and that is what we are doing today.”

Deputy Director General, Partnerships for Delivery, Institute of International Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Kenton Dashiell, while delivering his goodwill message during at the event said:”IITA is ready to support the project by providing technologies that can tripple the yield farmers are getting at the moment. We would support the project to ensure is a success.”