By: Azeez Olorunlomeru, Abeokuta
No fewer than 5,910 farmers in Ogun West Senatorial District have received training in modern agricultural practices, along with farming inputs, equipment, and cash support to boost food production and improve food security.
The farmers also received a cash grant of N100,000 each to help them focus on farming and prevent them from selling the provided materials due to financial need.
Speaking at the two-day training held in Ilaro, Senator Solomon Adeola, representing Ogun West, said the programme aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda on food security and is designed to address some of the challenges confronting local farmers.
He stated that the initiative was necessary in response to the President’s vision of having Nigerian farmers operate at least three planting seasons per year. Adeola added that the recent reforms in the oil subsidy regime and the foreign exchange market were beginning to yield positive results, noting that food inflation had dropped from 31.70 percent in February 2024 to 23.18 percent in February 2025, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
He reiterated his commitment to facilitating development projects in his senatorial district, including infrastructure, education, healthcare, and security. He noted that the empowerment programme was in line with the federal government’s food security strategy and targeted key challenges such as low productivity, limited access to training, expensive farm tools, and funding difficulties.
The training was organised in partnership with the Federal College of Agriculture, Isiagu, Ebonyi State, and the Federal Cooperative College, Eleyele, Ibadan. Farmers were trained in various modern farming techniques based on their areas of specialization.
Items distributed to the farmers included tractors, power tillers, water pumps, sprayers, bags of fertilizer, insecticides, home kit fertilizer seeds, growth enhancers, cassava stems, and improved seedlings.
The State Coordinator of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Dr. Oluwatoyin Ayo-Ajayi, said the programme was part of the federal government’s effort to empower grassroots farmers and reduce poverty. She described the initiative as an investment in the future of Ogun State.
Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Prof. Olusola Kehinde, also commended the organisers, saying the university was open to further collaboration to train and empower farmers as a way of addressing poverty and hardship in the state.
