Ekiti sets up storage facilities to avert food scarcity
Ekiti State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, has said that the state government is setting up storage facilities in different parts of the state to avert the food scarcity experienced in the state last year.
Oyebanji said that the government’s sole aim for the storage facilities was buying farm produce from farmers during harvest season and storing them for release during periods of scarcity.
The governor, who spoke in Ado Ekiti on Tuesday while inspecting one of the storage facilities, said, “The government’s immediate focus is to address food shortage, reduce post-harvest losses and ensure food sufficiency all year round across the state.”
He said the initiative was in line with President Bola Tinubu’s directive to the state governors to prioritise food security as a critical step in combating hunger across the country.
The governor said the state cultivated over 6,000 hectares of farmlands in 2024, adding that the warehouse for storing food crops was a major challenge, hence, his administration’s decision to provide storage facilities this year.
The facilities, according to the governor, would help in regulating prices of food items in the eventuality of food scarcity.
While expressing his delight that a large chunk of the farm produce was bought from young farmers under the Bring Back Youth in Agriculture programme, the governor assured that his administration remained committed to alleviating hunger and achieving food security in the state.
He said, “We promised Ekiti State good governance and we have been trying to walk that talk. The President directed that each state should embark on a strategy of food security and in Ekiti State in the last one year, we have started with phase one of a very deliberate attempt to ensure that we get ourselves out of hunger. Last year, we cumulatively cultivated over 6,000 hectares of land in the state, all planted.
“Going forward, we want to ensure that those crops that we buy from the youth are stored there and we will release to the market when there is an increase in prices of food so that we can moderate prices,” the governor stated.
In his remarks, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Ebenezer Boluwade, said the goal was not only to tackle hunger but to also create opportunities for the youth in agriculture.
Boluwade said the initiative would ensure a steady food supply throughout the year.
“The government will encourage farmers, particularly youths in agriculture, to increase production, knowing that their produce will not go to waste and the government is willing and ready to buy from them,” he said.
