Ondo state government, in partnership with the World Bank, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, and Food Security, has trained and empowered over 34,000 livestock farmers of Ondo state on livestock productivity, with a focus on poultry, pig, sheep and goat keeping.
The State Programme Co-ordinator (SPC) of Livestock productivity Resilience Support Project, (Ondo L-PRESS) Mr Olufemi Adeogun disclosed this in Akure during a media interactive session with Journalists covering the Agricultural sector in the state.
Adeogun said the L-PRESS is a six years intervention of the world bank through the federal ministry of Agriculture and Food Security with the Project Development Objective (PDO) to the improve productivity, Commercialisation, and resilience of targeted livestock production systems and to strengthen the country capacity to respond to an eligible crisis or emergency in Nigeria.
According to him, “Ondo is one of the twenty states of the federation who is benefiting from the project, saying the implementation of the project in the country has three value chains namely: Poultry, Pig, Sheep and Goat.”
He said “the overall purpose is to ensure smooth implementation of the project in the state, in accordance with the Project Development Objective (PDO) and operational guidelines, as contained in the Project Appraisal Document (PAD) and Project implementation Manual (PIM).”
Adeogun who explained that the project is domiciled in the state Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said by the end of the project in 2028, the livestock sector would be transformed, thereby enabling farmers to receive due rewards for their labour.
“The 34,000 targeted beneficiaries include poultry, pig, sheep, and goat farmers, as well as processors and marketers across the state. These individuals have been grouped into clusters and sub-clusters to benefit from the intervention.”
He stated that the project had sensitised the targeted beneficiaries across the state between September 2023 and early 2024, and had trained several extension agents and service providers.
“The trainings focused on areas such as health, disease control, and artificial insemination (AI), with sessions already held in selected locations and planned to be replicated in Akure and Ikare.
“The implementation office has also established five hectares of demonstration farms in Akure and Ondo City, and has set up farmer field schools in Akure, Ikare, and Okitipupa to promote modern livestock practices.
“Additionally, 165 farmers recently received Fodder choppers as part of the intervention. The purpose of that grass chopper is to ease the work activities in cutting the grass for preservation during the dry season which will make it easier for them and even for the animals to consume it without any difficulty”, he added.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Mrs Foluke Daramola, noted that the government is undertaking these efforts to make farmers more productive, improve their livelihoods, reduce production costs in areas such as egg and beef production, and ultimately benefit both consumers and farmers.
Daramola who listed several other government interventions, including the reconstruction of veterinary hospitals across the state explained that the government aims to make food affordable and accessible to the populace.
She added that these efforts would also help create employment for the people.
On his part, the State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Leke Adegbite, expressed concern over the rising cost of poultry-related products, especially eggs, and appealed to the leadership of L-PRES to find a solution to the alarming hike in egg prices and other livestock.
Fidelis David
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