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Ekiti attracts $300m investment to agriculture sector

By BusinessNews Staff on October 19, 2013

The Ekiti State government received investments worth $300 million in the agricultural sector in the last three years.
Governor Kayode Fayemi, who disclosed this at an empowerment programme organised for farmers in the state as part of activities organised to mark his three years in office, also announced the provision of a N80 million credit facility to boost agriculture.
He presented cheques worth N100 million to 250 farmers to buy tractors.

The governor said that the investments were from reputable indigenous and international agricultural institutions.

He said one of the institutions, “New Vision Technology”, was establishing a 165 million-dollar agriculture city in the state.

Fayemi said that Dutch Agricultural Development and Trading Company was also working to establish a high-quality cassava flour processing factory.

“Vege-fresh has taken over the moribund Orin cassava processing plant and has successfully upgraded the capacity of the plant from 10 tonnes to 60 tonnes per day,” he said. “The rest, including Datlex, RENL, GIL, Arewa cotton, and Spectra, have also partnered with the state to actualise the vision of the present administration to make the state the food basket of the South-West.’’

Fayemi warned that the government would not tolerate non-farmers hijacking benefits meant for genuine farmers.

He lauded the support provided by the World Bank, African Development Bank, UNDP, DFID and FAO to boost agriculture in the state.

He said the state’s Youth Commercial Agriculture Development programme had empowered 250 youths to cultivate 1,900 hectares of cassava and plant 53,000 cocoa seedlings and 109,560 oil palm seedlings.

The governor said it also produced 60,000 fingerlings, 6,230 kilogramme of fish, as well as 60,000 broilers.
[Nigerian Telegraph]

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