Food Security: Makinde Suspends Revenue Collection On Farm Produce

To ensure that there is food security in the state, Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has suspended collection of levy on farm produce marketed within the state for the next six months.

The governor who declared some far-reaching measures towards addressing the rising cost of food in the state, stated that his government will continue to do everything necessary to make life easy for residents of the state.

According to him, agricultural produce taken out of the borders of Oyo State would attract necessary revenues, adding that his government would move in to subsidise land clearing for farmers across the state with an initial sum of N600 million, with farmers now expected to pay N15,000 instead of N30,000 for land clearing, while the government would pay the balance.

Makinde, who stated this at a meeting with stakeholders in the agriculture sector, held at the Fasola Agribusiness Industrial Hub, Oyo, said the government would also provide tractors and haulage trucks for farmers, among other measures.

The governor, who said the state had disbursed N1billion to smallholder farmers through the Sustainable Action for Economic recovery (SAfER), also declared that the Agriculture Credit Corporation of Oyo State (ACCOS) loan support to farmers will no longer require a civil servant as guarantor, stating that farm associations will now guarantee their members to have access to the loan.

At the meeting, which had in attendance maize growers, cassava growers, rice processors, poultry farmers and traders across the state as well as officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, ACCOS and Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency, the governor maintained that there was need for a brainstorming session to address the food security challenge facing the state.

Makinde noted that though his government had done well in trying to stimulate and support the process of food security, with data showing that the state had made progress in terms of food production, it was worrisome that that progress had not been reflected in terms of food pricing.