World Food Day: Stakeholders Want Better Participation

Although the 2014 World
Food Day has come and gone, many people still feel that such celebrations on the 16th of every October were not impacting enough on the agric sector.
Some respondents who spoke to our correspondent on the gains derived from such celebration in Port Harcourt, yesterday, said only few farmers were known to have displayed products from their farms.
For Julius Onyemachi from Afam, most of the dry big fishes displayed were bought from far off places and brought to the venue of the celebration for display.
Onyemachi who could not substantiate his claims said he expected to see products from the state-owned Songhai farm and Buguma fish farm.
Another respondent, Mrs Joy Uchendu, a trader at Mile 3 market said she went  purposely to see if she could buy Bananas brought from the government’s banana farm at Ogoni area but was disappointed.
She said such occasions should be avenues for the government to show case its agricultural products to enable members of the public benefit from buying at subsidized rates.
For Williams Were, who toed the line of Uchendu, some of the individual farmers who came with their produce took advantage of the day and sold at exorbitant prices.
According to him, most of the produce were seen being taken home by those who came to sell because members of the public could not afford them.
For Justice Amadi, a fish farmer, although he was able to purchase some fingerling for stocking his new pond, the  celebration needed to be improved on by encouraging farmers from the rural areas to attend.
He opined that the state government should select at least one individual farmer and a farmers co-operatives organization from each local government area for sponsorship to the event.
He said under such arrangement, farmers at the grassroots would be encouraged to do more.