Ekiti State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Ebenezer Boluwade has assured Farmers Associations in the State of adequate support towards massively increasing production and ensuring food security in the State in year 2025 and beyond.

The Commissioner gave the assurance in Ado-Ekiti during the inauguration of the State Chapter of the South West Commodities Farmers Association.

Commissioner Boluwade who spoke through the Acting Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr Anthony Alofe stressed the readiness of his Ministry to provide technical support and forge a strong partnership with farmers and farmers groups more than ever before this year.

Boluwade expressed the readiness of the State Government to fast track every process that will lead to food surplus in the State including clearing more agricultural lands, opening more roads to farmsteads, tackling post harvest losses and encouraging the youths and all agric stakeholders to be intentional about food security.

The Commissioner expressed joy that commodity farmers which hitherto were divided into splinter groups in the State were now united and speaking with one voice.

He urged the various farmers groups and associations to maintain the spirit of oneness and unity in order for them to record success

Earlier, the Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and BoT Chairman, Ekiti State Chapter of the South West Commodities Farmers Association, Mr Adeniran Alagbada noted that the Association was inaugurated in Ekiti State in line with the Commonwealth agenda of the Southwest to upscale and modernize agriculture.

He explained that the Association was founded by the Commodity Farmers in the entire South West for all the farmers in the region to have one voice in dealing with what he called “the South West challenges for us to have a collective voice in dealing with agricultural challenges which are enormous”

The AFAN Chairman affirmed that Officers of the newly inaugurated association cut across all commodities including rice, maize, cassava, poultry, Cocoa and others in order to have a fair representation across boards.

The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Association, Ajise Olusegun said the Association will help all commodities form a strong synergy to agitate needs and to have easy access to information from the Government and vice versa.

Other members of the Association, including Mrs Funmi Ogunlola, Chairman, Cassava growers Association and Mr Matthew Ojo Oluwafemi, Chairman, Cocoa Farmers Association in their separate addresses commended the Biodun Oyebanji led administration’s commitment to farmers in the State, stressing that efforts of the present Administration to uplift the Agricultural Sector would soon begin to bear fruits.

They promised their unalloyed support to the various steps the State Government is taking to stamp out hunger and Food scarcity from the State.