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Tag: Kehinde Oloruntoba

  • Revenue from cashew nuts will surpass crude oil – Kogi

    Revenue from cashew nuts will surpass crude oil – Kogi

    The Logistics State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Kehinde Oloruntoba has described the state as the highest producer of cashew nuts worldwide, producing over 100,000 metric tonnes out of the about 200,000 metric tonnes exported last year.

    He disclosed this on Friday during an agriculture exhibition organised to mark the second year anniversary of governor Yahaya Bello.

    He said cashew nuts from Kogi State has become a hot cake and highly valued on the international market and would soon sell more than crude oil, currently the mainstay of  Nigeria’s economy. 

    The commissioner encouraged all to go back to the farm, adding that Vietnam, which is the major buyer of the cashew nuts from Nigeria, made over $3 billion from the produce last year.

    He said that the state has no business being poor, being also the highest producer of cassava and coffee, but that previous administrations refused to harness the resources for the overall development of the state.

    According to him, when Bello became governor two years ago, the agric ministry had no functional equipment, while the staff and farmers’ morale of staff and farmers’ morale were at the lowest ebb. 

    He said that the governor changed the story with the purchase of over 40 new tractors, establishment of 50-ton capacity rice mill at Omi dam and provision of  incentives to farmers.

  • Kogi to evolve Cassava Value Chain Policy

    Kogi to evolve Cassava Value Chain Policy

    The Kogi Government has partnered with Synergos Nigeria to evolve a Cassava Value Chain policy as part of efforts to reposition the agriculture sector in line with the Federal Government’s policy.

    Mr Victor Adejoh, Synergos Nigeria’s Field Manager for Kogi, Benue and Kaduna states, implementing the State Partnership for Agriculture (SPA), disclosed this in an interview on Monday in Lokoja.

    Adejoh said the government has also concluded arrangements to organise a Mini Summit on Cassava from where the policy would evolve.

    He said that aside evolving a policy on cassava value chain, the summit was also aimed at promoting the Agriculture sector towards eventual diversification of the economy.

    Read also: Kogi ’s IGR hits N1b monthly

    According to him, the summit, a brainchild of the Agricultural Vision Group ( AVG ) and Agricultural Innovation Group ( AIG ) of the SPA, will also help reposition the state on the world map in Cassava Value Chain.

    “The mini-summit will through a participatory and inclusive panelist engagement, elicit inclusive steps to evolve a Cassava Value Chain Policy to position Kogi on the world map in the Cassava Value Chain”, he said.

    Adejoh said that the summit would be chaired and co-chaired by the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria ( AFAN ) President in the state, Mrs Rabi Emaiku respectively.

    He said that the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with key ministries, departments and Agencies of government and non-state actors in the Cassava value chain were promoters of the mini Cassava summit billed for Jan.24.

    The Synergos Field Manager said Kogi Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Development Project ( ADP ), Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the State Bureau for Public Private Partnership ( BPPP ) would be participating in the summit.

    Other participants, he said, included Kogi Chapter of AFAN, FADAMA, Nigerian Cassava Growers Association, CrestAgro Farms Ltd., Unicane Ltd, Bank of Agriculture and NIRSAL.

    Also listed are Kogi Network of NGOs, Kogi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agricultural ( KOCIMMA ), Federal Ministry of Environment and Small-Scale Women Farmers Organization of Nigeria ( SWOFON )

    NAN

  • World Bank, FADAMA train 200 unemployed graduates in agro-enterprise in Kogi

    World Bank, FADAMA train 200 unemployed graduates in agro-enterprise in Kogi

    The World Bank, in conjunction with the National FADAMA Coordination Office, has embarked on agro-enterprise development training for 200 women and unemployed graduates in Kabba, Kogi.

    Mr Tayo Adewumi, The National Project Coordinator of FADAMA, said at the onset of the training in ABU College of Agriculture, Kabba, that the training was executed under the FADAMA Graduate Unemployed Youth and Women Support Programme (FADAMA GUYS)

    He said that FADAMA GUYS was designed for the production of four core crops of cassava, rice, sorghum and tomato.

    The coordinator, who was represented by Mr Peter Ajibaiye, said that at the end of the training, the beneficiaries would be given grants by the World Bank to start their chosen agricultural enterprises.

    He said that the World Bank had released 200 billion dollars as grant to promote the production of the four core crops in the Nigeria.

    Adewumi said that the FADAMA GUYS initiative was aimed at reducing unemployment and promoting food security in the country.

    The Kogi Commissioner of Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, who declared the training open, said that the Federal Government would reposition the youth to engage in productive ventures in its efforts to diversify the economy and use agriculture for wealth creation.

    He advised the trainees to make judicious use of the grants that would be given to them at the end of the training.

    He also said that the state had abundant resources which could facilitate of all aspects of agriculture production.

    The State Project Coordinator, Mr Paul Ogunmola, said the participants were lucky to be trained at ABU College of Agriculture, Kabba, which was renowned for quality teachers and urged them to engage in agro-business after the training.

    The Provost of the College, Dr (Mrs) Aderonke Mohammed, said that the training would empower the trainees to become employers of labour, adding that it would “continue to bear fruits and lead to further reduction of unemployment in Nigeria”.

    Some of the trainees told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that they would invest in the production of rice, cassava, aquaculture, poultry and livestock, among others

  • Kogi targets massive production of rice by December

    Kogi targets massive production of rice by December

    The Kogi Government says it expects a massive rice production from the 3,000 hectares of rice farms across the state by December.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, said this on Friday, while inspecting one of the rice farms at Ujoh, Bassa Local Government Area.

    Oloruntoba said that consumer products of the rice production, executed under the FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) project, would be available in the market as from December.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 80-hectare Ujoh rice farm is part of a cluster farm, which includes Ogbah rice farm (120 hectares) and Biroko rice farm (100 hectares).

    NAN also reports that the commissioner’s visit to the Ujoh farm marks that onset of his tour of all the rice farms in the state.

    Oloruntoba said that the massive rice production in Kogi was aimed at repositioning the state to become one of the major rice-producing states of the country.

    He said that a rice mill, which was capable of processing 50 tonnes of rice daily, was under construction at Omi in Yagba West Local Government Area.

    “Besides, another mill of the same capacity will be constructed by the Federal Government in Ibaji Local Government Area of the state.

    “The rice produced in the state will be tagged ‘Confluence Rice’,’’ he said.

    The commissioner expressed the determination of the state government to cultivate the vast arable lands in the state by exploiting all available intervention windows.

    He said that the Alape Crop Processing Zone alone had over 300,000 hectares of arable land, which could be used for rice production.

    On land-clearing, Oloruntoba said that non-functional government bulldozers would be resuscitated to clear lands.

    Also speaking, Mr Paul Ogunmola, the State Programme Coordinator of the FADAMA III AF programme, said: “If the farmers follow due diligence and agronomic recommendations, the state will produce up to six tonnes of rice per hectare.”

    He commended the state government for paying the counterpart funds for 2015 and 2016.