Ahead of the second phase of the 2023/2024 dry season farming, the Federal government of Nigeria has vowed to end sharp practices in agriculture including Round-Tripping and poor validation of farmers in the country to ensure boost food production.
The Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Sen. Abubakar Kyari recently made the pledge when he received the Governor of Ekiti State in Abuja.
Sen. Kyari disclosed that the second phase of the Dry/Wet Season Farming intervention is expected to commence this month, while noting that the Ministry is working to ensure that the challenges encountered in the first phase of the dry season Farming does not repeat itself.
In his words: “The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security is fully committed to addressing the issues of round-tripping and poor validation of farmers’ data.”
“We are dedicated to implementing stringent measures in the forthcoming Dry/Wet Season Farming for Rice, Maize, and Cassava, to ensure transparent distribution and target genuine farmers”
While appreciating the Ekiti State governor for reaching out to the Ministry, the Minister said the Ministry would work in collaboration with states, local governments, traditional rulers, local farmers’ associations, NGOs, and relevant MDAs to achieve the desired objectives.
“We seek the support of all stakeholders in the agricultural sector to overcome the challenges and ensure a successful intervention despite time constraints.”
On his part, the Ekiti State Governor Mr. Abiodun Oyebanji said in the time he has spent as Governor, he has been able to end the issues of middlemen interfering with access to real farmers.
“In most countries farmers are the richest. But here, they are the poorest simply because they work for the middlemen.
“We have tried to cut that one off. Regarding infrastructure, RAMP is going to take effect in Ekiti State. We are also in collaboration with a lot of agric institutes for knowledge transfer. We want to subsidize tractor hiring”
He requested that Ekiti state would want to collaborate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. According to him, Ekiti State is ready and willing to key into some of the ongoing programmes by the federal government.
