Driven to combat hunger through food security, youth empowerment, industrialization, as well as export promotion, Ogun State Government has taken its aquaculture intervention programme to Ilodo, Ijebu-Imusin in Ijebu East Local Government Area of the State.
Leading a government delegation to the proposed dam for the fish farm, Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Adeola Odedina said the Ministry would commence this year's operation with aquaculture intervention, by training farmers and developing their infrastructures.
Odedina who disclosed that the intervention programme would be done in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), added that the fish farm would form a cluster among inhabitants of the community.
"This is a follow-up to the promise of the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to focus more on food and nutrition among which is fish. This accounts to why we are focusing on aquaculture with the aid of CBN", he said.
The inspection also took the Commissioner and his team to a 25-hectare farmland being cleared for cassava plantation in the area under Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which include the construction of two culverts across canals, to ease transportation of farm produce to the market.
Odedina said, "Agricultural and infrastructural development will continue in this community and across Ogun State. One of the areas of intervention is job creation for young people and this won't happen without training. Training and capacity building will go along with the employment scheme”.
The Apex VCDP Chairman in the community, Otunba Tope Ogunnubi, added that the land being cleared was for cassava cultivation, while the culvert constructed is to make the access road motorable and to create empowerment opportunities that would have a multiplier effect on the community.
Welcoming the delegates earlier in his Palace, the Ogibimadagbo of Ilodo, Oba Isiaka Ajede, expressed delight at the government's intervention programme in his domain, describing fish farming as a flourishing business that could be left as legacy for younger generation.
He appreciated Governor Dapo Abiodun, for the intervention, expressing optimism that the proposed fish farm would create jobs for hundreds .
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