As part of efforts to boost food security and create employment for youths and women, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has inaugurated six agricultural projects within the state.
The projects, funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) under tripartite FGN/NDDC/IFAD assisted Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises -Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) Project, were located in Mahintedo and Igedegede communities in the state.
Speaking during the inauguration of the six projects which include, a garri processing mill, solar-powered borehole, aggregation centre, waste-to-wealth building, open market store and open/lock-up shops, the governor said the projects were designed to address the challenges of youth restiveness and other social vices in the state.
Aiyedatiwa represented by his deputy, Olayide Adelami, said the projects will go a long way to boost the state’s economy and ensure food security.
He said the project will improve the livelihoods of rural communities, noting that the cassava processing plant, will encourage farmers to grow more cassava and help to eliminate the challenge of transporting raw and processed produce to markets.
He said “This is a project that will impact on the lives of the rural communities. This project is a cassava processing plant and is situated in an agrarian community that mainly grows cassava.
“This project is to process cassava and it will encourage farmers to grow more because it will reduce the efforts of carrying raw and processed cassava to the market.
“When I went through the processing plant, one remarkable thing I noticed is that all the processing machines were locally produced in Nigeria, which means it will be easy to ensure that it goes through all the rural communities.
He disclosed that IFAD has identified 10 local governments within the state where similar projects will be carried out, saying “This requires less funds, it will be able to go around many local governments, it’s a World Bank-assisted project and it will impact on the lives of the people in the community.”
Speaking, the IFAD National Project Coordinator, Dr. Abiodun Sanni disclosed that nine such projects are ongoing in the state.
Sanni explained “We are looking for agrarian communities, and Mahintedo is one of them. We have already done our scoping and discovered that there is so much potential within this community, within the agricultural space.
“There are a lot of youths here who are enthusiastic to go into agriculture. After our surveillance and scoping, we find this community worthy.
“It is quite a peaceful community, so they met all the criteria that is required. We had no other choice than to invest in this particular community as a project.”
The State Project Coordinator, Prince Olawale Ademola, said the Mills are just part of many projects being implemented in the state under the programme.
He said: “We have our signature in 10 local government areas of Ondo State, with 10 communities per local government. So, we are in 100 communities in Ondo State. So, we have similar projects all over the communities where we are.
“In Mahintedo and Igedegede, environment, what they are known for is cassava production and cassava farming. From production to processing, to marketing, and there are so many derivatives of cassava.
“For example, pupuru, garri, and many others. So, now, from the request, the way we carry out a rural appraisal, what we observed was that they need this thing here.
“None exists in this environment. So, the project decided it was okay, since the community, the youth, and the women demanded it. So, the mills were provided for this community by IFAD in collaboration with the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ondo State government.”
He said measures have been put in place to maintain the machinery in the mills, and said, “part of what we do to ensure sustainability in the project, we have an operation and maintenance committee.
“What we have here was requested by the communities. So, it’s not a kind of, maybe, someone just come from Abuja or Port Harcourt or Lagos and implemented what we have.
“These projects will enhance productivity and contribute to food security by encouraging the production and consumption of Nigerian-made agricultural products,”
IFAD, a specialized United Nations agency, focuses on eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries by financing agricultural development projects, with a particular emphasis on smallholder farmers and vulnerable populations.
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