Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has declared some far-reaching measures towards addressing the rising cost of food in the state, including subsidizing land clearing for farmers and suspension of revenue collection on farm produce within the state.
The Governor stated that his government will continue to do everything necessary to make life easy for residents of the State.
His government, he declared, would move in to subsidize land clearing for farmers across the state with an initial sum of N600 million, with farmers now expected to pay N15,000 instead of N30,000 for land clearing, while the government will pay the balance.
The governor also declared an immediate suspension of revenue collection on farm produce marketed within the state for the next six months, noting, however, that agricultural produce taken out of the borders of Oyo State will attract necessary revenues.
Governor Makinde stated this on Wednesday at a meeting with stakeholders in the agriculture sector, held at the Fashola Agribusiness Industrial Hub, Oyo, where he revealed that the government would also provide tractors and haulage trucks for farmers, among other measures.
The governor, who said the state has disbursed N1 billion to smallholder farmers through the Sustainable Action for Economic recovery (SAfER), also declared that the Agriculture Credit Corporation of Oyo State (ACCOS) loan support to farmers will no longer require a civil servant as guarantor, stating that farm associations will now guarantee their members to have access to the loan.
At the meeting, which had in attendance maize growers, cassava growers, rice processors, poultry farmers and traders across the state as well as officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, ACCOS and Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency, the governor maintained that there was need for a brainstorming session to address the food security challenge facing the state.
Governor Makinde noted that though his government had done well in trying to stimulate and support the process of food security, with data showing that the state had made progress in terms of food production, it was worrisome that that progress had not been reflected in terms of food pricing.
He maintained that since the removal of fuel subsidy, his administration has been doing everything possible to make life easier for residents of Oyo State, including spending N77 million monthly to subsidize public transportation for 20,000 residents of the state on a daily basis, among other measures and that it would do everything possible to stem the tide of rising food cost.
