The Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture, Ogun State, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun has described the Capacity Building and Extension Mandate Programmes by Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) as highly laudable and capable of addressing the food security challenges in the country.
Mrs. Sokefun made this disclosure in an address she delivered at a Capacity Building Workshop on Broiler Production for Youths of Secondary Schools in Ogun State organized by the Extension and Adaptive Research (EAR) programme arm of the Agricultural Media Resources and Extension Centre (AMREC).
Speaking on the relevance of the workshop to agricultural development in Ogun State, the Honourable Commissioner who was represented by Deputy Director, Livestock Services, Mr. Emmanuel Oluseye Adeosun noted that the workshop would aid in the attainment of self sufficiency in poultry meat production, create employment for the teeming youths through entrepreneurship development and improve the nutritional status of the populace.
According to the Honourable Commissioner, the Capacity Building Workshop will also “Encourage Broiler Production and reduce our over dependence on beef as the source of animal protein, as well as enhance the income of schools/farmers engaged in broiler production ventures.
Mrs. Sokefun disclosed that the state government is highly impressed with the University’s record in youth development adding that “we wish to complement the effort by involving schools which had undertook such in our school Agricultural programme”.
The Honourable Commissioner also solicited for an effective synergy between FUNAAB and Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture and all its parastatals in the area of training and retraining to facilitate comprehensive extension programme as well as create an effective link with private sector for commercialization of various research findings.
Corroborating the Honourable Commissioner for Agriculture, the Honourable Commission for Education, Barrister Segun Odubela who was represented by Alhaji Ambali Ishola, a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, stated that the immense benefit obtainable from the investment and development of agricultural activities cannot be over emphasized.
According to him, the greatest launch to be experienced will not be from rockets but from the farms of dedicated agronomists and farmers.
