Posted by From Josephine Lohor in Abuja, This Day Online on
President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked the Kwara State government to take another look at the framework of the deal it signed with commercial farmers from Zimbabwe, so that possibly 12 more states could start such.
President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked the Kwara State government to take another look at the framework of the deal it signed with commercial farmers from Zimbabwe, so that possibly 12 more states could start such.
The president said this yesterday during a meeting he had at the State House with a delegation from Kwara State, which included Deputy Governor, Chief Joel Ogundeji, Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mustapha Mashood and some Zimbabwean farmers.
Obasanjo had last week visited the state to see the extent of commercial farming that had taken place on the 15,000 hectare agricultural project being handled by the farmers.
He pledged the commitment of the Federal Government to assist the farmers overcome initial financial and infrastructural difficulties.
Giving further insight into the idea of other states joining the programme, Mashood while speaking with news men after the meeting with the president, said we had very fruitful discussions and basically we highlighted some areas for which the farmers could collaborate more with Nigeria. Mr. President is of the view that this project should extend beyond Kwara. That we should not just limit it to Kwara.
'And we actually bought the idea and we are working towards a framework by which we could look into the Memorandum of Understanding and perfect the framework so as to see how at least 12 more states could actually start this commercial farming."
According to him, 'one of the areas discussed with the president is wealth creation, extension services where our local farmers will be able to benefit and have what we call transfer of skills from this expertise and in the area of processing. When we harvest our produce, what is the next thing to be done? We are looking at the area whereby most people can collaborate with Nigerians in this area. There is also the issue of irrigation which is one area where Nigeria has not done well."
Speaking on the role that Kwara State was expected to play as facilitator of the commercial farming initiative, Mashood said 'as you can see, we are the model. This is something that we initiated and the president is of the view that for the mere fact that we have taken the bull by the horn, it is important that we are used as one of the models.
'The programme now is to collaborate and see how we can work together with other ministries of agriculture, then we look into the possibility of bringing these states together to come to Kwara and see what we have done, meet with these farmers to see how Nigeria can really move forward."