FAO, Ondo, explore opportunities for transforming food systems

In the effort to strengthen partnership for boosting food production, promoting agriculture value chains and ensuring the sustainability of production systems, the Ondo State Government officials called on the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to sustain support to the state with more initiatives and options to drive the process.

The Deputy Governor of the state, Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, while on a courtesy call to the FAO representative in Nigeria and to the Economic Organisation of the West African States (ECOWAS), Mr Fred Kafeero, at the United Nations House in Abuja said the vision is to transform agriculture in the state, lift the status of the sector from where it is today to the right trajectory, thence the need to seek collaboration with reliable and competent partners.

The fact is that agriculture is one of the major drivers of the present administration in the state, he said adding that Ondo is the highest producer of Cocoa in the country, but we can still do better. We would like to get support on accessing funding for agriculture, sericulture, investment in large scale ranching, for which we are ready to provide the land, support in irrigation, aquaculture floating fish rearing system, forest management, among others.

Enumerating further on the needs of the State, HE Aiyedatiwa also said that the state-owned poultry hatchery has become moribund, thus investment advice, technical support and private sector investment are needed to revive the facility.

There is also a need to save the breed of the cattle (Muturu) indigenous to humid forest zones
of the State from going extinct.

The Deputy Governor also urged FAO to fast track the implementation of the second phase of FAOs technical assistance to the state on the pilot feedlot cattle fattening systems.

While welcoming the guests, Kafeero said FAO is a specialized technical agency of the UN with a mandate to provide technical assistance in all aspects of food and agriculture.

He reiterated the readiness of FAO to collaborate with the Ondo state because of the vast agriculture potentials that exist in the State, waiting to be fully harnessed for the improvement of livelihoods through sustainable development.

The FAO Representative said that developing agriculture value chains provides the much-desired push for economic growth, employment and increased incomes to households, and therefore calls for wider partnerships.

He, therefore, proposed stronger collaboration of the State with more UN agencies, the Private sector and Civil society organisations.

He elaborated and asked the State to take advantage of a global flagship Partnership programme undertaken by FAO and UNIDO, called 3ADI+ (Accelerator for Agriculture and Agroindustry Development and Innovation), which aims to develop inclusive and sustainable value chains by ensuring that investments in agricultural industrialisation have positive social, economic and environmental impacts, can be another entry point for the state.

When we bring our technical expertise together, then we are able to attract other financing institutions to be able to work on particular value chains, we know cocoa is key in Ondo State, he stated

The other area for possible joint opportunities discussed at the meeting was the FAOs Hand in Hand Initiative launched in 2019 which seeks to accelerate the agricultural transformation and sustainable rural development to eradicate poverty and end hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

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FAO, Ondo, explore opportunities for transforming food systems