The Ondo State Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project ( L-PRES) has said that it targeted over 34,000 beneficiaries of its livestock project, which includes poultry, pig, sheep, and goat farmers.
The organisation affirmed that, by the end of the project in 2028, the livestock sector would be transformed, thereby enabling farmers to receive due rewards for their labour.
Olufemi Adeogun, the State Project Coordinator (L-PRES), who disclosed this on Tuesday in Akure during an interactive session with journalists, called on them to support the project to have a smooth implementation in the state.
BusinessDay reports that the 34,000 targeted beneficiaries include poultry, pig, sheep, and goat farmers, as well as processors and marketers across the state.
Read also: Ondo govt distributes 165 fodder choppers to livestock farmers
These individuals, according to Adeogun, have been grouped into clusters and sub-clusters to benefit from the intervention.
He stated that the project had sensitised the targeted beneficiaries across the state between September 2023 and early 2024, and had trained several extension agents and service providers.
The trainings focused on areas such as health, disease control, and artificial insemination (AI), with sessions already held in selected locations and planned to be replicated in Akure and Ikare.
The implementation office has also established five hectares of demonstration farms in Akure and Ondo City, and has set up farmer field schools in Akure, Ikare, and Okitipupa to promote modern livestock practices.
Recall that 165 farmers recently received Fodder choppers as part of the intervention.
In her remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Foluke Tunde-Daramola, noted that the government was undertaking these efforts to make farmers more productive, improve their livelihoods, reduce production costs in areas such as egg and beef production, and ultimately benefit both consumers and farmers. She added that these efforts would also help create employment for the people.
While noting that the recent distributions were made to clusters and not individuals, Tunde-Daramola listed several other government interventions, including the reconstruction of veterinary hospitals across the state. She explained that the government aims to make food affordable and accessible to the populace.
Read also: NEC eyes $90bn from establishment of textile devt board, livestock transformation
Tunde-Daramola also assured the public of the government’s commitment to providing counterpart funding and urged the media to highlight the extent of activities being undertaken to eradicate poverty in the state.
She, however, appealed to the people to make good use of all the inputs provided to them, noting that this was the ultimate goal and dream for the state to continue thriving.
In his earlier remarks, Leke Adegbite, the Ondo State Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), urged the federal government not to allow the Ministry of Agriculture to become overly bureaucratic but to ensure it serves the people effectively.
Adegbite, who expressed concern over the rising cost of poultry-related products, especially eggs, however, appealed to the leadership of L-PRES to find a solution to the alarming hike in egg prices in Ondo State.
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