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Food security remains a top priority for the Kwara government as billions of naira are invested in different agricultural initiatives this year, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq said on Wednesday.
Abdulrazaq spoke at the government-enabled Kwara Youth Farm in Malete, Moro local government, where at least 1,500 hectares of land are being cultivated for soya bean production this farming season, while over 1,500 hectares more are to be farmed in the coming seasons.
The Governor was taken round the huge farm by Arowojobe Tolulope, the project manager, and Ibrahim Tunji Mukaila, the farm manager at the Malete Youth Farm.
“Apart from many other initiatives, this is to deepen our resolve on food security. I am here to see things for myself and to make sure that the right investments are put in place. I am on site to see that our investment programmes (in agric) are being implemented, and to see the challenges we are facing,” he told reporters on the sideline of the visit.
“I’m impressed with what I’ve seen; it’s very good. We need to do more, and we will continue to do more. This will lead us to a bumper harvest at the end of the season and prepare us for the dry season farming, during which we will certainly escalate things.”
The Governor’s tour of the Malete Farm comes as the administration escalates its support for farmers across the state.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is currently distributing seedlings, fertilisers, and other farm inputs to at least 10,000 farmers.
Recently, the state executive council approved N2.9bn worth of support for farmers — a few weeks after the Governor on June 26 launched the distribution of the fourth phase of agricultural and infrastructural assets under the Nigeria COVID-19 Action Recovery Stimulus (NG-CARES) programme, targeting over 600,000 beneficiaries across different categories in the 16 local government areas.
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