Benue to partner FTF to on vicious hunger cycle




The Benue state government Tuesday pledged to partner with Feed The Future (FTF) to develop the state’s agriculture sector and break the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger.

Governor Ortom said this in Makurdi during USAID agribusiness finance and investment summit organised by FTF in the state.

Ortom said his administration had decided to work closely with partners and investors in the agribusiness to develop the agricultural sector in the state.

He said it was based on the foregoing that he had established the Office of Agribusiness in the state to work with investors.

He further said he would ensure that farmers in the state were adequately trained for enhanced productivity.

The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Timothy Ijir on his part, called on farmers in the state to venture into mechanised farming in order to better their lot.

The commissioner said the state would benefit more if it embraced mechanised farming because the farmers would cultivate on large scale.

He decried that most of the farming population in the state were using manual labour to cultivate as well as harvest their yields.

“Also, some of them farm mainly for subsistence; that is, they farm mainly for their family consumption thereby resulting to low productivity as well as low yields.There is need for them to step up their farming activities for their overall good,” he said.

Earlier, the managing director, FTF, Dr Adam Saffer, said the organisation was poised to integrate women and youth in their activities to enable them fend for themselves.

Saffer noted that women and youth were drivers of the change in agriculture. 

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