The Adegboyega Oyetola -led administration in Osun state has disclosed   its plans to empower no fewer than 2,000 young farmers in the state with its new cocoa initiative.

Governor Oyetola revealed that the aim of the programme is to bring rapid development to cocoa value chain and promote agro produce in the cocoa producing states, stressing that the government has also been working hard to support the Maize farmers, Cotton farmers and Cocoa farmers to make sure that the Anchor Borrower Scheme’s goals are realised even in the face of dwindling resources.

He maintained that his administration remained a critical partner of the Anchor Borrower Programme initiative of the federal government as part of efforts to revamp the agriculture sector.

The governor made  the disclosure on Tuesday, at the unveiling of Ekiti State Government Rice Pyramid Project, the signing of MoU between the State and the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria and the flag-off of 2021 wet season rice cultivation, in Ado-Ekiti .

“We will be unveiling a new Cocoa initiative, aimed at empowering 2, 000 youths. We are doing this in collaboration with Afex Commodity and the Central Bank of Nigeria. The aim of the programme is to bring rapid development to Cocoa value chain and promote agro produce in the Cocoa producing States”. he said.

Speaking further, Oyetola disclosed that the rice component of the Osun Food Support Scheme was sourced from local rice sellers in order to encourage and empower local farmers in the state and beyond.

He averred that the Scheme, which enables the state to feed 30, 000 poor and vulnerable persons, will ultimately support food sufficiency programme, as farmers will be encouraged to double their efforts while government serves as the off-taker.

The governor, who described agriculture as the most critical sector and bedrock of socio-economic development, submitted , “By the nation’s potential and history, agriculture remains a critical but missing mainstay that we must all as a nation and the constituent States join hands together to find and sustain.”

He, thereafter, lauded President Muhammadu Buhari for graciously initiating the Anchor Borrower Programme to achieve food sufficiency in rice and other food crops, saying, “If, today, Nigeria has moved significantly to food sufficiency from where it was in 2015, rice production plays a significant role.”

The Osun state gaffer noted that President Buhari has not only initiated the Anchor Borrower Programme, but he has also demonstrated leadership by giving it tremendous support that has made it possible to display gigantic rice pyramids in Niger, Kebbi and Gombe States, and to gather in Ekiti to launch the Ekiti State Rice Pyramid Project.

“The novel success we have recorded in rice production as a nation in the past five years is evidence that we have the capacity as a nation to feed ourselves and turn our economy around. It is also proof that the President Buhari Administration means well for the people and the nation.”

He congratulated Governor Kayode Fayemi on the unveiling of Ekiti State Government Rice Pyramid Project, adding that, “If agriculture worked for us as the mainstay of the nation’s economy in the First Republic, it will work for us better now in the knowledge- and technology-driven 21st Century. We must all at the Federal, State and Local levels muster the political will to give agriculture its pride of place as a staunch source of food sufficiency and security as well as an employment generation and revenue earner”.

Governor Oyetola continued, “I commend the Ekiti State Government, RIFAN and all our rice farmers for rising up to the challenges of 2020, including the Covid-19 pandemic, and for putting all the requisite measures in place for a bountiful yield during the 2020 Wet Season Harvested Paddy.

“I urge all stakeholders to continue to engage meaningfully in research and training and re-training of personnel to build capacity for optimum results. We will also do well to provide all the necessary implements and support for our farmers to perform to their optimum”, he concluded.

Also commenting at the event , the host, Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, informed that the initiative was in line with the vision of his administration to ensure massive food production which was also in tandem with the President Muhammadu Buhari’s agricultural transformational agenda.

Fayemi explained that his administration has successfully demonstrated the need for the people to look inward towards improving and revamping agriculture sector with focus on improved rice production to ensure food security and economic prosperity.

“As a responsible and responsive government, we are encouraging our farmers to take full advantage of the programme to enhance their agriculture produce capacity.

“In the olden days, Ekiti used to be the leading rice producer for the entire Western Region, and beyond. We are working to regain our pride of place, and building a successor generation of players in the rice value chain that would ensure security and economic prosperity.

“I am sure we would put Ekiti rice on the world map as we have institutionalised commercial agriculture,” the governor assured.