By Lanre Omotoso
Lack of adequate food production in Ekiti State has been attributed to kidnapping, destruction of farms by suspected herders, paucity of funds and inadequate storage facilities.
Two farmers, Chief Gabriel Kolawole and Mrs Bukola Bamidele made the observations in an interview with Radio Nigeria reporter on this year’s World Food Day in Ado Ekiti.
Chief Kolawole said he was still indebted to the tune of Two million Naira, paid as a ransom to secure the release of one of his farm workers.
He called on the government to engage the services of local vigilante in security matters, because of their familiarity with the terrain of their environment.
Similarly, another farmer, Mrs Bamidele recounted how she lost about ten hectares of cassava plantation to herders, and lamented that the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation had failed to compensate farmers.
The respondents emphasized that if urgent steps were not quickly taken to stem the tide of insecurity, many farmers would abandon their farmlands which would result in hunger, malnutrition and famine across the country.
They also called for an enabling environment for the establishment of cottage industries that would further process and store excess produce to avoid wastage of farm produce.
Both respondents decried the inability of farmers to determine the price of their produce and stressed that prices of inputs such as chemicals, fertilizer, cutlasses and hoes have skyrocketed.
They equally emphasized the need for Governors in the Southwest states to give irrigation support to farmers as practised in the Northern parts of the country, which helped them to achieve all-year-round farming.
Since 1979, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has designated October 16 as World Food Day, and the theme for this year is “Water is life, water is food.
Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels, also join our Whatsapp Update Group
pub-5160901092443552
Related Posts
