Inadequate Storage Facilities Worries Osun Famers

Staff March 11, 2015

Some farmers in Osun State have decried the inadequate number of silos in the state, calling on government at all levels to do more to ensure food security.
One of the farmers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Alhaji Yinusa Ayandele, condemned the lukewarm attitude of the government towards provision of adequate farm storage facilities.
Ayandele recalled that the farmers in the state had made several appeals to the government to make adequate farm storage facilities available but to no avail.
He said the only way efforts of the government in reviving agriculture in the state could yield good result was to ensure storage facilities like silos and barns to reduce post harvest wastage.
Another farmer, Mr Ibikunle Oluwalogbon, appealed to the government in the state to provide storage facilities to guarantee food security.
Oluwalogbon said the state has not given farm storage facilities the priority it deserves despite its giant stride in agriculture.
In the same vein, Mrs Anjola Ibidun, who is the Managing Director of Iwalewa farms, Ikire, also stressed the urgent need for adequate provision of silos and other farm storage facilities.
“The problem of inadequate farm storage facilities is not peculiar to Nigeria alone, it is indeed a fallout of lackadaisical approach of African governments to the agricultural sector.
“It speaks volume on the lack of diversification on the continent, where many African countries, including Nigeria, remain consistently mono-economies.
“The government of Osun must take the issue of storage facilities seriously in order to improve the revenue of farmers in the state,’’ Ibidun said.
DAILY INDEPENDENT