BY OLUSEGUN FOLARIN
The Federal Government is building the capacity of cassava growers and boosting investments in the sector to promote the values and utilisation of the commodity.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Ernest Umakhihe, who disclosed this in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital said the move was part of government’s efforts to meet the target of achieving food security for the nation.
Dr Umakhihe who spoke through a representative, Mrs Tolulope Fagboyo appealed to the cassava growers to incorporate the knowledge acquired during the training into their farming activities for improved productivity and wealth creation.
Earlier, a resource person from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, FUNAAB, Mrs Abidemi Ogundele had also encouraged the framers to take advantage of the value addition inherent in agriculture to enhance their revenue generation.
Describing cassava as an important food crop in Nigeria and across Africa, Mrs Ogundele urged the producers and other actors in the value chain problem cess to come up with new ideas and strategies to make the the farm produce more valuable and attract patronage.
Some of farmers including Owolabi Damilola and Adebanjo Olalekan commended the efforts of the federal government to improve food security by engaging more youths and women in the areas of cassava processing, packaging and value addition.
They advocated increased assistance to farmers in the country, especially in the south west region of the country through the provision of basic equipment and farm tools, apart agricultural inputs.