The Oyo State Government has introduced plans to assist 1,000 younger agropreneurs with a ₦1.5 billion fund in a renewed push to increase its agribusiness sector.
The Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA) and Executive Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Agribusiness and International Cooperation, Dr Debo Akande, made the disclosure on Monday in the course of the Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing held on the Governor’s Office in Ibadan.
Dr Akande revealed that the state has to this point skilled 5,020 youths in varied points of agribusiness, noting that 1,000 of these with lively enterprises are to learn from a government-backed financing initiative in collaboration with First City Monument Bank (FCMB).
He additionally acknowledged that the Makinde-led administration has attracted over ₦46.6 billion in agribusiness investments and accessed practically $170 million in worldwide improvement and agribusiness funds. These efforts, he mentioned, have introduced in 14 main processing firms and triggered large-scale agricultural transformation.
“We are seeing the impact of these investments. The Fasola Agribusiness Hub alone has attracted ₦17 billion from 14 agribusiness companies, cultivating over 950 hectares and processing crops such as cashew, cassava and tomato, alongside dairy production from close to 1,000 lactating cows,” he mentioned.
Dr Akande highlighted Fasola as Nigeria’s first designated Agricultural Transformation Centre, which has built-in roughly 8,200 smallholder farmers with buyers to construct a dependable provide chain.
“Fourteen agribusinesses are currently operational at Fasola. Some are focused on crop cultivation, others on processing, and one is engaged in equipment leasing. These investors have already cultivated 950 hectares without any government input in inputs or labour. This is the essence of agribusiness,” he added.
He cited the success of business greenhouse tomato farming at Fasola, explaining that the produce is already supplying native markets, with the mannequin proving viable year-round, no matter rainfall.
“This is the standard seen globally. Agriculture should not be seasonal. If we replicate this with 1,000 greenhouses, imagine the quantity of tomatoes we’ll produce and process all year long,” he mentioned.
Looking forward, Akande disclosed that the state, with assist from the African Development Bank (AfDB), has awarded the contract for the development of the Ijaiye Agribusiness Industrial Hub. Unlike Fasola, Ijaiye will host greater than 40 medium to large-scale agribusiness corporations, and building is ready to start as soon as contracts are finalised.
He additionally famous that related developments are deliberate for Eruwa, Oke-Ogun 1, Oke-Ogun 2, and Ogbomoso, every tailor-made to the comparative agricultural benefit of their areas.
“There are already seven companies signed up for Ijaiye. This will become the central hub to which others feed. In Eruwa, we have a model similar to Fasola underway, and we’re already oversubscribed with investor interest,” Akande mentioned.
The state, he added, can also be supporting 46,000 smallholder farmers by way of OYSADA, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Agric-Credit Corporation of Oyo State. Improved infrastructure, together with key roads and feeder routes, has performed a serious position in enhancing agribusiness logistics and development.
He introduced that the state has signed a partnership with France-based worldwide meals wholesaler Rungis-Semmaris to assemble a wholesale produce market in Ijaiye. The facility, when accomplished, will function a central aggregation level for farm produce, lowering capital flight and guaranteeing that produce worth stays throughout the state.
“This development will stabilise food prices and ensure Oyo benefits directly from the infrastructure it has invested in. We are also focusing on a balanced approach, producing for both export and local consumption,” he defined.
Dr Akande was joined on the briefing by Mr Badmus Kolawole, OYSADA Permanent Secretary, and Mr Kola Kazeem, State Coordinator of the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES).
