Food blockage, rather an opportunity says Oyo state Governor

Contrary to the general belief of many southerners to foods suppliers from the Northern part of the country, the Executive Adviser (EA) to the Governor of Oyo state on Agriculture, Dr. Debo Akande has described the action as rather an opportunity to accelerate foods productivity, saying the state had already commenced this through its agribusiness model. Dr. Akande in a chat with Food Farm News pointed that the new development was rather an eye opener for the state to intensify in its agribusiness program towards sustainable food security.

                     

Akande in his response to our text massage that read ‘’Dr. good morning. What is your state doing to mitigate scarcity due to food stuffs diversion from the Northern Nigeria to Sudan, Chad and Cameroon’’ said the action should rather be perceived as a wakeup call to galvanise food productivity in the states of the South West .

He stated that ‘’ i think it is an opportunity to intensify on our plans in Agribusiness. We had focussed on increasing food production in our state even before all these issues. The state government under the leadership of Governor Makinde has chosen Agribusiness as key to its state economic development plan even before this period’’

The EA to the Governor went further saying that ‘’ we have our mid-term and long food security strategies. In any case, we have our indigenous food and livestock in the south that we should channel our energy towards. This is an opportunity rather’’ adding that ‘’ we have increased the numbers of crop production through four different approaches, including government direct initiatives through 1000 youth farming, support for 20,000 selected smallholders farmers, 10 private sector led and public sector supported production to increase five essential crops production’’

He pointed that the state would be using the mid-term strategy of industrial hubs to increase productivity, just as the agricultural innovation hubs and irrigation farming to increase production and processing in the state would also be applied.

The Northern Consensus Movement (NCM) allied with the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria have since last Friday embarked on food stuffs diversion as they have blocked all borders leading to the south according to the National President , Alhaji Awwal Abdullahi Aliu who said food are now being diverted to Niger and Cameroon through IIIela border.

                         

A member of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) under anonymity said that the diversion of food stuff to the other neighbouring countries was as a result of higher prices coming from export demand in those countries, saying farmers in the north are now expanding their market frontiers for more money to be able to pay bank’s loans, having realised it has become difficult to evade loan with Bank Verification Number (BVN).

He added that many states in the south are already waking up to tapping great economic potential in agriculture and food productivity through the value chains of production, processing and marketing adding that the situation will make Nigeria as whole a more secured nation in terms of foods, saying healthy competition was a very veritable vehicle for growth.