Mr. Godwin Obaseki, Edo State Governor, has restated the need to prioritise production for the domestic market to stabilise the nations food supply and the fluctuating exchange rate.
Governor said this during the inspection of the Dufil Farm, Ethanol Factory and other investments in Ovia North East Local Government Area of the state. He was accompanied by the Chairman of Edo State Oil Palm Programme (ESOPP), Rasheed Sarumi, other stakeholders and top government officials. According to the governor, his administration is setting the pace in this direction by bringing into the state investors through who the government is encouraging small holder farmers to grow in business and get ready markets for the goods.
Obaseki said: We are working with investors to encourage those farmers already farming cassava on how to expand production, planting varieties for industrial use. Buyers are already waiting to buy the products.” That is not the only gains for the agricultural programme of the Godwin Obaseki administration. Aside from the production of food from cassava, the government is also celebrating the use to which by-products from the cassava used in the factory is put to. He said, “Byproducts of cassava are not wasted, as they are used as feedstock for other industries.” That is another avenue from where farmers receive support from the programme. Feeds, which form the source of headache for farmers in other states, get sourced locally, thus reducing the stress even of poultry farmers.
But it goes beyond that. So, the governor who is a finance expert, recognizes the fact that the effect of what was being celebrated locally goes to the heart of the national economy. First, it solves the challenge of food production, addresses food prices and then through it the state government may have contributed its quota to efforts at tackling the challenge of the dwindling foreign exchange for the country. Hear him: We dont have the foreign exchange that we used to have; all the food we used to import we dont have the resources to do so anymore. Even if we do, the price will be too high for us and the only way out is producing for the domestic market. This is the only way to stabilise the food supply and exchange rate for this country.”
It was an elated Governor Obaseki who praised one of the big investors in agriculture who participated in the programme of the state government from 2019. He said, Dufil Prima Food Limited got land from the Edo State Government to farm oil palm. When they started their oil palm business in 2019, they saw the need to diversify into cassava because of the availability of the product. As you can see today, they have invested in excess of N25 billion naira in just the cassava division.” Encouraged by that feat, the governor said his visit to the farm was to explore the possibility of collaborating with investors like Dufil Prima Foods to improve their performance for the benefit of the government and its people.
Obaseki again, We are here to see how far they have gone, what they have done, the challenges they have and how collectively as state government and ESOPP investors, we can work to reduce the risk and encourage more investments.
He said his administration is happy to do more to encourage the investors because We are benefiting from various investments in the state like this factory of Dufil built four years ago and producing quality cassava flour and other byproducts for the poultry industry. The state is benefiting from the food sufficiency standpoint from this investment.
We have received substantial investment from various investors as investment has come into the state and a lot has come into the economy of Edo State, showing that a lot of economic activities are going on.
From the farm and ethanol factory, they created over 1,500 direct jobs for the people. They are helping us reduce the challenge of unemployment, develop the state, expand it, and bring in people into the area with better opportunities. Edo State is one state where you can come to invest and make a lot of returns and grow your business.
He concluded, Dufil has shown us that what we are producing as cassava is not up to the demand. The variety of cassava used for industrial production is different from the one we eat.
Mudhukar Khetan, the CEO, Agro-Allied Resources and Processing Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of Dufil Prima Food Limited, thanked the governor for the opportunity given to his company to invest in the state, saying that the government has provided a stable, secured and peaceful environment to operate.
Khetan also enumerated the contribution of his company to its environment. He said, We have around 17 communities in our domain and maintain good relationships with them all. We have employed 40 per cent of community people on our farm; direct employment is around 1,500 people, out of which about 500 people are from the community. We also give educational scholarships to the people.
Rasheed Sarumi, the Chairman of the ESOPP Programme, said that Edo State as a business destination has been made conducive for investors as we have confidence in the administration of Godwin Obaseki. Thats why you see huge investors in the state.
HOW WE ARE ENCOURAGING FARMERS IN EDO- OBASEKI
