From Our Correspondent
Gov. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has reiterated his administration’s commitment to growing the state economy through agribusiness.
TheNewsZenith reports that Makinde stated this at the ground-breaking ceremony of the Eruwa Agribusiness Industrial Hub, situated at Eruwa-Igboora Road, Eruwa.
Eruwa is the headquarters of Ibarapa East Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The governor said the project occupying 3,250 hectares of land would cover every aspect of the agricultural value chain.
Makinde said he felt fulfilled that the journey to transform the Eruwa farm estate into an Agribusiness Industrial Hub was finally getting done.
He urged the people of Eruwa and the entire Ibarapa zone to make investors feel welcome to the hub when completed, “support them, and they will create jobs for our youths”.
The governor also announced the release of N2 billion to the contractor handling a segment of Ibadan – Eruwa Road.
According to him, this is to enhance the speedy completion of a section of the road, as yuletide approaches.
“I will ultimately approve the complete reconstruction of the 48 kilometres stretch of the Ibadan-Eruwa Road. So, this will be done, dusted and commissioned before I leave office,” Makinde said.
Earlier, Dr Debo Akande, the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Agribusiness remarked that the state has the largest land area in Southern Nigeria.
According to Akande Oyo State can boast of more than 28,000 square kilometres.
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He said that 70 per cent of the land in Oyo state is arable.
“And, we need to increase land cultivation to increase our food production,” TheNewsZenith quotes Akande as saying.
He said the state would require nearly one million smallholder farmers to cultivate about 40 per cent of the arable land.
“We need to create a system that attracts new actors, such as medium-to large-scale investors in agribusiness.
“Also, we need to focus on industrial agriculture. This is not just about crop and livestock production but an ecosystem that responds to all the aspects of the value chains.
“Focus will also be on stimulating our rural infrastructural development for agricultural transformation.
“Oyo state has x-rayed the state food systems as far back as 2019 and developed a written strategy in response to this paradigm shift.
“This will forever change the narrative of agriculture in this state’s history,” he said.
Akande said the Eruwa agribusiness industrial hub project was another intervention to enhance food production and boost the state economy.
“We expect a $40 million public-private development investment to change the agricultural landscape of Eruwa, Ibarapa, and Oyo state,” he added.
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