By Sodeinde Temidayo David
Nigeria’s leading commodity player, AFEX, has partnered with agricultural investment company, South-West Agriculture Company (SWAgCo) and the Ogun State Government for the development of 5,000 hectares for the production of multi-crops in the South-West region of Nigeria.
The partnership is set to develop staple crop zones in the southwest with a special focus on cassava, rice, and maize.
The Commissioner of Agriculture for Ogun State, Mr Adeola Odedina, highlighted the alignment of the project with the ambitions for agriculture in the state.
“Our agricultural agenda as a state continues to be bold and exemplary, and this agreement is a very important step in that agenda,” the Commissioner said after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the deal room of the Feed Nigeria Summit 2021.
“Together with AFEX and SWAgCo, we are creating a Staple Crop Zone as a vital part of the execution of the Special Agro-Industrial Zone (SAPZ) for the state, being developed in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the African Development Bank (AfDB),” he added.
AFEX on its part also assured that it will deploy its exchange platform to both raise financing for the project and enable market access for the products derived from the project.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFEX, Mr Ayodeji Balogun, further said that AFEXS’s goal was to create a way to triple the yields of staples to six-eight metric tons and continue to produce wealthy farmers for Nigeria.
He also stated that the company will not stop in the South-West region but would spread its operations across all regions in Nigeria
“Our partnership with the Ogun State government and SWAgCo is integrating the private sector’s efficiency and innovation with the forward-thinking plans and agenda of the government of Ogun state in a way that will create jobs and enable wealth creation for the country,” he further stated.
The project will be funded from both public as well as private sources. AFEX, as a commodities exchange, will be responsible for mitigating the project’s market risk by ensuring that the project’s output is guaranteed market access.
The execution of the agreement will strengthen all levels of agricultural activities in Ogun State, and help in job creation and the achievement of food security for the country.
