The Kwara Government has reassured subsistence farmers in the state of its commitment to support their activities through its phased intervention programmes in the agricultural sector.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Malam AbdulLateef Alakawa, gave the assurance in Ilorin on Tuesday during a stakeholders’ engagement with the Zuru Farming Community in Adewole Ward, Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state.
Alakawa explained that subsistence farmers have a critical role to play in achieving the present administration’s agricultural transformation plan, with a resolve to make agriculture the revenue hub of the state economy.
According to him, this is translating to an increase in the number of people involved in agricultural activities in the state.
The commissioner said the Zuru Community, is a major farming bloc dealing in large-scale plantations of various crops for domestic consumption and exports, to complement employment opportunities, increase revenue generation and ensure food security in the state and the country at large.
He assured the visiting team of the state government’s consideration of its request in its all-year-round farming programme and other ongoing agricultural intervention programmes.
Earlier, the Facilitator, Mr Tejidini Olayinka, had disclosed that Zuru is a large farming community in the Adewole area, contributing its quota to the economic development of the state.
“Zuru Community is a sub-set within the state and contributing to the economy of the state through its farming activities and its value chain process in the state,” Olayinka said.
The Zuru farmers, he said, are seeking the state government’s help to empower them through the provision of improved seedlings, agrochemicals, fertiliser and other agricultural inputs and machinery that would enhance their farming activities.
