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Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was on Friday 15th of January, 2021 unveiled a 10-year Agricultural Transformation Plan, which is designed to ensure food security, generate employment opportunities, and reduce poverty rate in the state.
The plan is hinged in six pillars of crop production, finance, livestock, access to market, value chain, and cross-cutting programmes, the Governor said at the launch of the document in Ilorin, the state capital.
AbdulRazaq said the document comes with measurable milestones to ensure faithful implementations by all the stakeholders involved.
“It is a 10-year plan which is based on verifiable data gathered from field research and extensive consultations with various stakeholders and experts in the sector. The plan spells out the opportunities and challenges in the agricultural sector in the state, and identifies six pillars that are critical to the success of the plan,” AbdulRazaq at the launch attended by several stakeholders in agriculture virtually.
“These pillars are crop production, Finance, Livestock, access to market, value chain, and cross-cutting programmes. The document explains each of these pillars and the milestones to be reached in the course of its implementation,” he said.
AbdulRazaq who also disclosed that “This week is one of the most exciting weeks because I met the French Ambassador to Nigeria who has agreed to send a team to Kwara State. He is particularly interested in agricultural sector, most especially the livestock sector.”
The Governor said he is also working to ink an agreement with the Lagos State Government on food production, adding that Kwara would be investing some N2bn in the agricultural sector in partnership with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), a platform of the African Union to advance economic growth on the continent.
“This will be anchored by a department at Kwara State University, Malete which will be at Ilesha Baruba. This administration will conclude the construction of that campus. The campus has extensive land which I have visited. So, NEPAD is investing in Kwara. I am also the chairman of the programme’s steering committee. It will make Kwara agriculture programme a huge success,” he added.
Present at the event were, the speaker of the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi Salihu, Technical Assistant to the Governor on Agriculture AbdulQowiy Olododo, the state chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria Hon. Umar Muhammad Aboki, Olawale Rotimi Opeyemi- CEO, JR Farms Limited (consulting partner).
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