AFAN Makes Case For Agric Sector

Worried by the State of agriculture in Edo State, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), has accused the state government of not doing enough to boost the sector.

The AFAN coordinator in the northern  part of Edo, Alhaji Abdukhi  Mohammed who said this  while answering newsmen  question in Auchi claimed that apart from less than one per cent budgetary allocation to the sector, government had not paid its counterpart fund for Fadama III and other  initiatives in the last three years.

He explained that non payment of counterpart funds for various agricultural projects was a major setback agricultural development in the state.

Mohammed also alleyed that provision of farming incentives such as seedlings and fertilise as well also  soft  loans  had not been made by the State government.

It will interest  you to know that long after the N1 billion   Federal government agricultural  loan, no farm in the state had received a  naira or any other  loan from government  since December 2008.

But the state Commissioner for Information Mr. Anselm Ojeasua  debunked AFAN’s allegation.

He said it was wrong to say that the State government was paying lip service to agricultural development in the State.

Ojeasu told newsmen that it was not true that less than one per cent of the State’s budget was allocated to agriculture saying “if you mean less than  10 per cent, that will be correct.

On FADAMA III the commissioner said that  Edo State has funded Fadama projects before now, so Oshiomhole’s administrator  has no reason not to fund it.

“It is  funding    Fadama III, adequately he explained while dismissing  the allegation that the last counterpart  fund payment by the government on any Fadama project was in 2007.