Expert charges govt. on enabling environment for farming

Mr Wale Oyekoya, the Managing Director of BAMA Farms, on Tuesday urged the federal and state governments to create an enabling environment for farming to thrive across the country.

Oyekoya, in an interview with newsmen in Lagos, said that without the creation of the enabling environment, the prices of foodstuffs would continue to soar in the markets.

“People are complaining of high cost of foodstuffs in the markets and this will continue until the real farmers get the desired attention from the various governments.

“Nigeria, with a population of over 200 million people, is still relying on subsistence farming to feed its people.

“Things do not work that way. Something urgent needs to be done about this,’’ he said.
Oyekoya said that the productivity of the country’s farmers had gone down considerably due to certain factors.

He said that many farmers did not have access to high-quality seeds and seedlings to plant this farming season, while the available ones were too costly.

He said that in some places, cassava stems were sold at N400 per bunch, adding that a farmer would need 20 bunches of cassava stems to plant on one hectare of land.

Oyekoya said that the agricultural sector had been somewhat inactive, adding that government should make pragmatic efforts to overhaul the sector.

He also said that the people’s access to lands for farming was limited; adding that excessive power on land use was vested on the state governors.

He also emphasised the need for the government to initiate tangible plans to promote mechanised farming.