Adebayo Adenrele
As part of the efforts to strengthen food security in grassroot communities in Ekiti State, the state government has distributed thousands of fertilisers to farmers across grassroots communities to boost agricultural production and reduce the cost of food.
The distribution, facilitated through the Office of Community Communications, is targeted at farmers and grassroots structures that may not belong to formally registered farmers’ associations, thereby expanding the reach of government agricultural interventions.
Addressing journalists in Ado-Ekiti during the distribution exercise, the Director-General of Community Communications, Mary Oso-Omotosho, said the initiative was designed to ensure that farmers across the state’s grassroots communities benefited from government support.
She explained that the state Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security had earlier distributed thousands of bags of fertiliser to farmers’ associations across the state, but the latest intervention was deliberately channelled through the Office of Community Communications to reach farmers outside established associations.
According to her, the initiative reflected Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s determination to ensure that government programmes penetrate the grassroots and benefit people who might otherwise be excluded from formal distribution channels.
Oso-Omotosho also noted that the fertiliser distribution was part of the broader effort to strengthen food production in the state and appreciate the contribution of farmers to the state’s economy.
She urged the beneficiaries to apply the fertilisers appropriately to improve yields and contribute to the state’s food security drive.
Her words, “The governor is aware that not all Ekiti farmers belong to the various farmers’ associations established and recognised across the state.
“So, the governor uses every avenue and every means to reach out to the farmers.
“The ones we distributed in the last planting season, we saw the impact. In the market now, you can see that food items, the cost has gone down practically.
“So, they have all seen the effect and they are going to make good use of these fertilisers.
“We are beneficiaries of President Bola Tinubu’s various economic reforms and we are feeling the impact through the projects and developmental projects that Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji has put in place”.
Meanwhile, representatives of non-indigenous ethnic groups in Ekiti State commended Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s administration for extending agricultural support to farmers from different communities.
Oyigocho Otache, described the initiative as significant because many members of the non-indigenous communities are actively involved in farming across the state.
Otache said the fertiliser distribution was particularly timely because farmers were entering the planting season and would help them increase production and improve their livelihoods.
Another community representative, Mallam Audu Isa, described the fertiliser intervention as a major support to farmers, stressing that fertiliser was essential for improving agricultural productivity.
Isa said the opportunity to benefit directly from the fertiliser distribution would help farmers improve their output while contributing to food availability across the state.
Also speaking on the initiative, a former Commissioner in the state, Rufus Ajayi described the fertiliser distribution as a landmark intervention capable of improving agricultural productivity in Ekiti State.
Ajayi noted that farming remained one of the major occupations of the people, adding that crops such as tomatoes, pepper and other agricultural produce required appropriate fertiliser application to achieve higher yields.
