The Ogun State Government says it is targeting about 50, 000 farmers across the state, mainly youths, to benefit from its various agricultural projects.
Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture, Adeola Odedina made the disclosure at Eweje Farm Settlement during the flag- off of the second phase of the project.
Odedina disclosed that the first phase of the broiler project involved 54 youths, each who raised 1,000 broilers totaling 54,000 broilers and an average profit of N130,000Â in six weeks. The second phase is expected to involve the same number of youths and produce another 54,000 broilers.
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The commissioner commented that the government has been very successful in raising young people as pilots to stimulate the interest of other young people in the poultry value chain and reduce the importation of poultry products.
He said over 9,000 youths have registered with the state Ministry of Agriculture to participate in the second phase, and that the participants would go for four or five rounds , each earning about N130,000 every six weeks.
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According to Odedina , the state is partnering with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),’s agro-processing firms and other stakeholders to venture into producing a range of various agricultural commodities, such as poultry, cassava, rice, millet and maize, among others.
He added that the state government is working on infrastructure, while the CBN and other banks stand ready to support youths with credit.Off- takers and processors are also prepared to partner with the new the farmers.
The commissioner noted that the government had already started land preparations for more than 23,000 youths who had registered for cassava production, adding that the state would be supporting farmers with farm inputs, land and loan facilities, among other things.
