Oyo State chapter of the All-Farmers Association of Nigeria wants the state to become the food basket of Nigeria.
Its secretary, Mr Adewunmi Abass made the declaration during a visit to Gov. Seyi Makinde at his private residence in Ibadan.
“We want Oyo State to become the food basket of southwest Nigeria and of Nigeria as a whole thereby bringing back the lost glory of the region.
“We visited the governor to create a partnership that would translate to better agricultural development and food security for Oyo state.
“Our visit was also to appreciate the governor and to list some challenges that we are facing as farmers and the way out,’’ Abass said.
Speaking in the same vein, chairman of the association, Mr John Olateru, expressed the association’s readiness to partner with the state government to address challenges facing grassroots farmers.
He said government needed to acknowledge grassroots farmers in its policy formulation.
Olateru acknowledged that government had been executing notable projects in the agricultural sector with undisputable impact.
“We appreciate the fact that our children are being trained; we appreciate what agri-businesses are doing, bringing multinationals to patronise us.
“There is the need to focus on grassroots farmers, however, as they supply the big time farmers,’’ Olateru said.
He noted that the livestock sector was ebbing and there was the need to rejuvenate it.
The governor was represented at the visit by delegated officials, one of whom, Mr Babalola Abiodun said Makinde had great interest in agriculture and would address the farmers’ problems.
