Edo is Nigeria’s agro-investment destination

Following the growing demand for a reduction in Nigeria’s over-dependence on food importation through local production, the Edo State Government on Monday said that the availability of human and material resources in the state has positioned it as the nation’s destination for agricultural investment.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Abdul Oroh, who made this know in interview with The PUNCH, said that the state had a policy to actively participate in reversing the “ugly trend” reliance on food importation into the country.

Oroh lamented that the nation imported about N1trn worth of food items and spent about N1bn daily to import rice in order to meet the need of the over 170 million people, even when the commodity could be produced in the country to feed Nigerians and export.

He said, “The information available to us is that about N1trn worth of food that we could grow and process conveniently in this country is imported.”

The commissioner said that Edo, which ranked high in the production of cocoa, rubber and cassava in Nigeria, was taking steps to address the situation he described as unsustainable by encouraging investment in the agricultural sector.

While citing the production of rice in places like Agenebode in the state, Oroh said that the state government had signed about 14 memoranda of understanding with different investors to improve commercial agriculture and utilise its array of land as well as friendly climate.

He also said that youths in the state had been fully engaged in state’s out-grower scheme and provided the needed manpower for agro-business in the state.

He said, “Today, we have more than 500,000 hectares of land suitable for all-year-round agriculture and all kinds of crops and about nine months of rainfall in all parts of the state.

“We believe we are the best place now to invest in agriculture. The political will is there. The people are friendly. Most of our areas have access roads and electricity in most parts of our rural areas.

Oroh stated, “We have a policy of attacking this issue from two angles by getting more investment in commercial agriculture and bringing in the youths to be part of this process under an out-grower system, as well as assisting the peasant farmers so that they can benefit from their efforts,” Oroh stated.