Oyo State government has trained its 66 desk and facilitators across the thirty-three local government areas of the state to assist small-scale farmers in cushioning the effect of Covid-19 towards boosting food security.
The training which is with the support of the World Bank is to scale up the intervention that would help the farmers to increase food production in the state.
Addressing the trainees via -Zoom at the programme held at the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency, OYSADA, Headquarters Saki, the Director General of OYSADA, Dr Debo Akande noted that the Nigeria Covid-19 Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (N-CARES) programmes are an Oyo State Government/World Bank Assisted Project with the objective to enhance the food supply chain.
Dr Akande who is also the Executive Adviser to the Governor on Agribusiness explained that desk and facilitators would be a soldier in supporting all these farmers and young people in all the 33 local government areas of the state to identify the beneficiaries who needed the support.
Akande said, “N-CARES is expected to support the farmers that were attacked by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the young farmers that are into small-scale farming but deeply involved in the agricultural and agribusiness value chain”.
He further said, “one of the reasons why many of you were selected as facilitators to be part of this agricultural scheme is because you are young, vibrant and dynamic, few of you I’m aware completed training at Nasarawa State under the state Youth Employment Agribusiness Project, YEAP, initiative, and I’m also aware that only a few of you like 20 out of over 3,000 that attended the training were selected for this program, this means that you are ICT guaranteed and you must adopt the use of technology a lot in driving this project at hand”.
“Don’t allow people to tell you that this is not how we used to do it during the days of FADAMA, or OYSADEP, this is not a FADAMA nor OYSADEP program, we are looking for new technology, new ideas, new innovations, we cannot continue to do things in the same way and expect a different result, there must be new approaches to deliver things for the development of our dear state, and we are counting on you people to provide all these platforms and knowledge on farm approaches.”
Earlier, the Result Area 2 Project Coordinator in the state, Mr Abimbola Bamgbola said, “N-Cares programmes are designed to restore the livelihood of the poor and vulnerable, maintaining food security and facilitating recovery of Moses which are some of the key objectives set out in the government’s economic sustainable plan to respond to the current economic crisis in Nigeria”.
He noted that the orientation and training of the facilitators and desk officers in the state is to acquaint them with the implementation procedures and guidelines for the project.
Mr Bamgbola commended the state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde for the commencement of the intervention programmes for the affected farmers in the state even before the Federal government intervention project.
In an interview, two of the participants, Mr Ogunyanju Akeem Babatunde, a desk officer from Atiba Local Government and Moses Odigie, a Facilitator from Ibarapa Local government described the training as worthwhile.
They also promised to make good use of the training for the development of the state.
Iyabo Adebisi
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