Oyo Agric Comm, Olaleye Rates State High In Innovation, Food Security

In line with Governor Seyi Makinde’s sustainable development agenda on agriculture to enable farmers expand their operations and improve their livelihood, the state Ministry of Agriculture has provided microloans to 3,501 smallholder farmers with soft loans ranging from ₦50,000 to ₦800,000 per beneficiary.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Barr Olasunkanmi Olaleye made the revelation during the Inter-Ministerial briefing held at the Governor’s Office Media Conference Room on Thursday.

‎Barr Olaleye, who praised the governor for his commitment towards making Oyo State the food basket of Nigeria, said the Ministry has organized comprehensive training programmes for not less than 3,830 individuals across various agricultural enterprises.

The Commissioner, while appreciating collective efforts of staff, development partners, farmers, and all stakeholders whose collaboration has made the achievements possible, emphasized that the microloans, capacity trainings and various transformational programmes initiated by Governor Seyi Makinde is to create an enabling environment to impacting the lives of farmers and rural communities.

‎He said that the state government, in its efforts to develop rural areas and ensure easy movement of farm produce, has completed 87.53 kilometres of strategic roads across multiple local governments under Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP).

The Commissioner highlighted FRSC-Okudi-Oyada 6.82km road in Atisbo Local Government, 4.37km Market-Illa junction in Oriire Local Government, 8.85km Adebayo Alata-Obembe, Aba Oje Road in Oluyole Local Government, 21.96km Oloko-Oyo-Okere dam road in Iseyin Local Government and 8.43km Fasola Farm Settlement Road in Oyo West Local Government, as well as 37.1km Alako-Idi-iya-Batake-Olowa Farm settlement road as major strategic roads completed by the Governor Seyi Makinde’s led government to ensure food security.

Barrister Olaleye also added that the government has upgraded three critical rural markets with modern facilities that reduce post-harvest losses and improve farmers’ market access in line with RAAMP objectives.

‎He said the Oyo State government is not paying lip service to public health and protection of livestock, noting that this has significantly reduced livestock mortality rates and protected farmers’ investments. The Commissioner added that the initiative by the Ministry has successfully vaccinated 95,948 cattle against Anthrax and Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), representing 80% progress toward our ambitious target of 120,000 cattle.

‎Barrister Olaleye maintained that in order to ensure infrastructural development and efficient service delivery, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development under his watch has secured approval to establish nine Farm Service Centres across agricultural zones statewide and commenced renovation of eight strategic facilities.

‎The centers include Fertilizer Store, OYSADA Regional Office Oyo, OYSADA Training Centre, Igboole, Former AISU Building, Olorunda, OYSADA Farm Estate Store, Akufo Camp, OYSAISU Fertilizer Store, Oja-Oba, Igboora, Agricultural Input Supply Unit Fertilizer Store, Saki, OYSAISU Fertilizer Store, Igbeti and OYSADA Training Centre, Iseyin.

‎He disclosed that in collaboration with various organizations, the Ministry has trained over 24,800 farmers focusing on crop production, value addition, agribusiness development, and sustainable farming practices.

‎He assured that the Oyo State government’s programmes on agricultural and rural development have directly impacted tens of thousands of farmers, while building the infrastructure and institutional capacity needed for sustainable agricultural growth.

‎“In conclusion, these achievements represent a comprehensive approach to agricultural development that addresses every aspect of the value chain – from input supply and production support to processing, marketing, and capacity building. Our programs have directly impacted tens of thousands of farmers while building the infrastructure and institutional capacity needed for sustainable agricultural growth in Oyo State. The combination of technical services, infrastructure development, and human capital investment positions our state as a leader in agricultural innovation and food security in Nigeria,” Barr Olaleye said.