Netherlands to Collaborate with Ogun on Vegetable Production

James Sowole in Abeokuta

The Netherlands Government has expressed readiness to collaborate with the Ogun State Government to ensure food security through improved vegetable production.

The First Secretary, Food Security and Climate, Netherlands Embassy in Lagos, Marisha Lammers, disclosed this at a meeting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, with the state delegation comprising the state Commissioner for Finance and Chief Economic Adviser, Mr. Dapo Okubadejo; his counterpart in agriculture, Dr. Adeola Odedina, other senior government officials and representatives of the International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC).

Lammers said the partnership would also be extended to Kano, Kaduna and Oyo States, adding that the initiative would provide technical and financial supports to not less than 2,000 vegetable farmers.

She said: “It is about increasing productivity of small holder farmers in the partnering states. We are focusing on green-house farming as pilot production innovation system in Ogun and Oyo States, facilitating access to finance as we plan to link farmers and other value-chain actors to financial institutions.”

While responding, Okubadejo maintained that the Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration was poised to achieve food security, and continue to collaborate with individuals and groups to further develop its agriculture sector.

He said the state has large arable land, manpower, operational delivery platforms and political leadership required for the development of horticulture value-chain for large scale production and exportation of vegetables.

The commissioner said: “Ogun State is the place to be because we have over 70 percent of our land suitable for agriculture, combined with our proximity to Lagos. We have a very big agenda in agriculture based on our competitive and comparative advantages.

“One of our key objectives in agriculture is to achieve food security, and we are determined to do things differently, so that is why we are developing an aerotropolis-where we have special agro-processing zone that is fully dedicated to agro-industrial processing.’’

On his part, Odedina said the project was in line with the agricultural agenda of the present administration, adding that it would broaden the knowledge-base of farmers in the sector.