The Oyo State Government has declared that the planned Ijaiye Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone and the Rungis-styled Food Wholesale Market will transform agriculture and business in Ijaiye, its environs and across Oyo State.

It explained that 3,000 hectares out of the 7,581 hectares at the Ijaiye Farm Settlement have been designated for the twin initiative, which will not only bring greater economic benefits to farmers and other stakeholders at the Ijaiye Farm Settlement in Akinyele Local Government Area but will also have lasting impact on agriculture and agribusiness in the state.

The Permanent Secretary of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), Mr. Kolawole Badmus, who represented the Director-General of the agency, Dr Debo Akande, said this during a meeting with stakeholders at Atan-Ijaiye.

He noted that the fears of displacement being nursed by farmers in the settlement were unfounded, stating that the initiatives as envisioned by Governor Makinde, who he described as a compassionate leader, would only improve agriculture value chain and ensure that farmers get greater rewards for their efforts.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the AfDB-backed Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone and the Wholesale Market, which is styled after the Rungis International Food Wholesale Market run by Semmaris, when completed, would provide opportunities for farmers to get greater value for the farming investments.

He cited how the Fasola Agriculture Transformation Centre has become a major hub for agribusiness in the state and how farmers around Oyo and Oke Ogun zones have been benefiting from the laudable project, stating that the twin initiatives of an agro-processing zone and a wholesale market would bring greater opportunities to farmers.

He said: “We have two big projects coming up here; the Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone and the Rungis-styled international market for agribusiness. Those are the two projects that will come up at the Ijaiye Farm Settlement.

“The first project will be in the centre. It will be an industrial agro-processing zone, which will add value to farm produce that we have in the state. It will improve the agriculture value chain, as we will have companies that will process farm produce for local consumption and large-scale exportation.

“For decades, we have had situations where our farmers laboured to farm and at the end of the day, they are ripped off by middlemen or the produce even spoils in the farms. It is discouraging to produce and then you sell at a very cheap price. Farmers do not make much gain and then, the state has nothing to show for supporting agriculture. But when you process and export, you gain a lot; you can bring in foreign exchange.

“Governor Makinde once said that he conducted a research on the crops we produce here and that on the average, hundreds of trailers of cassava and cashew are being taken from the state to neighbouring states without the state gaining substantially.

“The SAPZ and the Food Wholesale Market will change that forever. Our farmers will benefit 100 per cent of what they produce.”

Badmus, however, countered the claims by some of the farmers that they were unaware of the plan to upgrade Ijaiye Farm Settlement to an Agro-Industrial Hub.

He maintained that the state government had been engaging with the farmers and settlers in Ijaiye Farm Settlement since 2020 with a view to ensuring that they were carried along on the intention of the government to redevelop Ijaiye Settlement.

Noting that the farmers in the settlement have nothing to fear, Badmus stated that the government would carry out a proper enumeration of farmers in the settlement with a view to taking appropriate actions.

He added: “The farmers have been carried along. This project was envisioned in 2020. We even conducted a series of meetings with the farmers. One of them is just telling me here that he saw his name — the signatories are the number of the attendants at the first meeting we had in 2020.

“”We know that they are apprehensive. But, we want to let them know that we have a different governor, one that has passion for our state and is quite compassionate. That’s why he introduced this agro-processing initiative.

“This is not the first special agro-processing zone we have in the state; the Fasola Agro-industrial Hub is up and running.

“The fears by some of the farmers that their cocoa, cashew and other cash crops would be destroyed are unfounded; these are also in Fasola. We have the cashew plantation there and Fasola is 100 per cent ready now.

“So, we will just appeal to the farmers here to calm down; they should have confidence in the government and they are going to benefit from all these things.

“We will do the enumeration. We have the record and we want them to have a backup of the record. We have the record of what they are planting and then what they have on the field now, so that it will be very fast for us when we are doing the enumeration of the plants on the crops on the farm. 

“We are involved and the survey has been done. The Surveyor-General’s Office has already conducted everything and, by Saturday, the sod-turning event will take place.”

Also speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of Akinyele Local Government, Mr Akinwole Akinleye, expressed excitement over the initiative, stating that the project would bring rapid development to the local government and Oyo State at large.

“We are happy that this transformative development is coming to Akinyele Local Government. Ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony on Saturday, we have assured the affected farmers that the government will provide adequate compensation and support,” Akinleye said.

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