Reinventing farm settlements

IN confirmation of the enduring appeal of the programmes and policies of the first Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Ekiti State governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, indicated last week that his administration was returning the state to the farm settlement era witnessed during the old Western Region. The governor, who made this declaration during a tour of farm clusters in the state, said construction work on ultramodern dormitories at the farm settlements would commence within the next three weeks. About 930 youths are said to be involved in the state’s agriculture scheme dubbed #BringBackYouth IntoAgriculture, rolled out in collaboration with a private entity. According to the state government, under the scheme, the government provides land to the young farmers and assists them with land clearing and seedlings as well as agric extension services, among others. It also has an arrangement to buy their products for storage purposes. Governor Oyebanji said he was determined to invest hugely in agriculture in order to ensure food security and drive industrialisation. In his view, revamping the old farming strategy of Chief Awolowo is the only way to ensure that farmers stay on the farms and maximise the government’s support for the scheme. The proposed dormitories, according to Governor Oyebanji, will have facilities like sitting rooms, kitchens, security posts, sick bays, among others. The intention is to attract more young farmers into agribusiness and turn the state into a huge agriculture hub.

Given Nigeria’s food security imperatives, there can be no faulting the move of the Ekiti State governor. Earlier this year, the governors of the South-West geopolitical zone held a meeting, during which they harped on the need to reinvent the farm settlement scheme that formed a core part of the agricultural programmes of the Awolowo government, by far the most visionary and most impactful leadership in Nigeria to date. Time was when Nigeria had a vibrant agricultural sector that was the darling of the world in the production of crops such as cocoa, groundnut, yam and cassava, among others. Over the years, however, investment in the sector nosedived as governments at federal and subnational levels focused on the ready money that came from Nigeria’s oil wealth. In particular, since the return to civil rule in 1999, a period that Nigerians expected would usher in great democratic gains, the government has failed to harness the full potentials of Nigeria’s agricultural sector. In the South-West, in particular, with the exception of the administrations like that of Olusegun Mimiko in Ondo State which gave the farm settlement scheme a modern, practical outlook via three integrated agric villages, the scheme has been given a short shrift over the years.

Admittedly, however, the current crop of governors in the South-West geopolitical zone have rolled out some agricultural schemes that are quite worthy of applause. For instance, the Seyi Makinde government has both revived and modernised the Fashola Farm settlement scheme. Built on 1,250 hectares of land, Fashola is a now a hub with 10 industries processing a variety of crops. According to Governor Makinde, “What private investors have brought into Fashola Farms is more than 100 percent above what the state government has put in here, and that is encouraging. What we are doing here in Oyo State regarding agribusiness has been picked up by the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture, IITA, and is to be adopted in some 17 countries.” The Lagos State government has LAKE rice. Its 32mt/hr-capacity rice mill, the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa, has the objective of producing 2.5 million bags of 50Kg rice per annum, reduce dependence on importation, and create over 250,000 direct and indirect jobs, underscoring Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s commitment to food security.

Ogun State under Governor Dapo Abiodun recently harvested approximately 1,400 metric tonnes of rice, equivalent to 20,000 bags of milled rice. Following the success of the first harvest, the project, a three-month scheme, will now be scaled up to 5,000 hectares. The state has an agro-cargo airport, the Gateway International Cargo Airport, projected to generate approximately 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. It also has a Special Agro-Cargo Processing Zone as a free trade zone. Among other schemes, it established an integrated farm estate, gari packaging plant and a 200-trainee soil-testing programme, complemented with the signing of MoUs with national and international development partners such as IITA, HarvestPlus. Its Planting Materials Palliative (PMP), rolled out at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, was targeted at 40,000 smallholder farmers.

Given the foregoing, it is clear that the governors of the South-West are quite conscious of the region and Nigeria’s food security needs. What they have done is, however, not enough. Much more is required to enhance the agricultural potential of the zone. The region is not doing well in the production of pepper, cocoa production and cattle rearing. There is nothing stopping the governors from liaising with the universities in the zone and harnessing its agricultural potentials. They must bring back the days when the region readily exported cash crops like cocoa, cotton and palm oil. The farm settlements established by the Awolowo government should never have been discontinued in the first place, but Governor Oyebanji’s decision to bring them back in Ekiti State deserves the support of right-thinking Nigerians. He should pursue the programme with steely resolve. However, whatever scheme the governors roll out is bound to be eventually hobbled by the menace of terrorists assaulting, maiming and killing farmers in the zone. For farm settlements to work, the laws banning open grazing in the states must be rigorously enforced. If terrorists have the leverage to overrun farms, then any farm settlement that is established is bound to fail.

The governors must work hard with the Federal Government and make state policing a reality while strengthening agencies such as Amotekun. Agricultural revolution is impossible without farm security.