October 16, (THEWILL) — As the world marks World Food Day, Ogun State Government, on Wednesday, said it is distributing free farm tools and planting materials to over 4,000 households under the Special Agro-Processing Zone (SAPZ) in its home garden programme to combat food insecurity and reduce hunger in the state.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Bolu Owotomo, who disclosed this at a press conference held at the Government Secretariat, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, said the programme was set up by the Dapo Abiodun-led administration to train households to cultivate perishable crops in their garden to save them from the high cost of food items at the market.
He said that the programme would allow households to practice micro farming in gardens within their houses or environments by planting food crops, including tomatoes, pepper, onions, vegetables and fruits such as pawpaw, banana, among others, so that the family could spend little money to purchase food items at the market and save more to cater for other expenses.
Owotomo said that although the project begins by covering over 4,000 households in four council areas, including Yewa North, Obafemi-Owode, Odogbolu and Ijebu East. Adding that the free distribution of farming tools and planting materials would spread to households in other councils from next year.
He noted that seeds for okro, tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables were distributed while tools, including rakes, shovels, fertiliser, insecticides, hand gloves, coco peat sand, and germination trays, were also distributed to the households to start cultivating their garden and fertile land within their environments.
The commissioner said, “We are distributing home garden tool kits and planting materials to households. We already started with 4,000 in four local governments, including Yewa North, Odogbolu, Ijebu East and Obafemi-Owode, to reduce hunger and enhance food security and from there move to other local governments in the state.
“We are actually promoting home garden because we believe that before we started getting the oil and gas dollars we are more of an agricultural based economy, the reason for that is the fact that we have plantains definitely providing food and most people actually have their own garden as well in their houses so there are some commodities there some products or produce that you don’t have to go to the market and buy.
“We are encouraging everybody to at least plant some tomatoes, peppers, vegetables and some food crops that you are able to use in your house. This programme is targeting over 4,000 households for the home garden and kits. You will agree with me that if you are able to plant your peppers, tomatoes, pawpaw, and bananas, that means you don’t have to buy more food.
“So when you go to the market, what you are going to buy at the market will not be a lot, hence there is going to be a lot more money in your pocket. And I am sure that none of us has fertile land in our environment, so let us begin to use those fertile lands to cultivate for ourselves so that there can be more money in our pockets. We won’t take much money to the market to buy, so in that way food prices will come down and there will be enhancement of food security as well”, he added.
Seun Shotunde, THEWILL
