Rivers farmers advocate for inclusiveness in agriculture subsidy

A farmers group in Rivers has asked for inclusiveness in the Federal Government’s planned agriculture subsidy programmes, focusing on efforts to enhance food security in the country.

Mr. Godwin Akandu, President, Etche Farmers Cooperative Union, made the plea while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Port Harcourt.

According to him, the government, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, has notified farmers in the state of an ongoing agro-inputs distribution in five northern states of the country.

He said the distribution model was to test the agriculture enhancement programme but expressed worry over the non-inclusion of any of the southern states in its experimental stage.

“We call on the Federal Government to include the south in the test run and indeed, the entire geo-political region, which ultimately has peculiar challenges such as climate, logistics, security, and other factors impeding food production.

“Some officials of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture have addressed us on the Federal Government’s planned subsidy on agriculture and the state of emergency declaration on the agriculture sector.

“They said they are test-running in five states in the north to increase the efficiency of the agro-inputs distribution process, but we are worried about what happens to the south.

“There should be a balanced assessment across the country to ensure tangible results as to the progress of the programme and its attendant solution to food sufficiency in the country,” he said.

Akandu also urged the government to redouble efforts in tackling insecurity arising from farmers and herders crises in communities to build confidence in the farming occupation.

He, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for declaring a state of emergency on agriculture while also urging the various states to replicate the same in their domains.