AFAN Charges Edo On Agric Initiatives

The Edo North Coordinator of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Alhaji Abdulahi Mohammed, has called on the Edo State Government to key into the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).

Mohammed made the call in an interview with newsmen at Auchi in Edo and said that the desire of the state government to boost food production and provide employment opportunities would only be realised when the state embraced the Federal Government’s agricultural initiatives.

The AFAN coordinator said that because agriculture was capital intensive, it would require collaboration between governments and donor agencies.

Mohammed, who is also a member of the National Technical Committee of AFAN, South South Zone, commended the Federal Government on the ATA initiative, pointing out that any state, which embraced the project would be better for it.

“Without fear or favour, I will say that no state will have the needed fund to turn around the fortunes of agriculture in the country. “Agriculture needs huge capital investment and it is only through this (ATA) collaboration that states can achieve  the Edo Government is not doing its best in its efforts at repositioning the sector but more can be done when it keys into the ATA,’’ he added.

According to him, besides boosting food production, the collaboration can also be beneficial to the state in the area of creation of employment opportunities.

Mohammed also appealed to the state government to educate farmers on the need to register at the ongoing farmers registration exercise.

He said that the farmers’ registration exercise, an initiative of the Federal Government, failed last year in the state because most farmers were not informed.

“There is need for the state government now to adequately publicise this exercise so that more farmers can register unlike the previous experience where fewer farmers registered,” he said.