…summit attracts Consul General, Netherland’s Embassy for investment in Ekiti Agriculture
Stakeholders in Agribusiness have called for a strategic partnerships between government and financial institutions towards facilitating finance and technical supports for grassroots farmers with the aim of enhancing their production
This is one of the major resolutions reached during the “Speak Agriculture for the Future Economy” (SAFE) summit 5.0, organized by Postagvest Solutions Limited, powered by Horti Nigeria, Ecotutu, and supported by East-West Seeds, Pricepally, Eupepsia Place Limited (Soiless Farm Lab), Cato Foods, Integrated Aerial Precision, Jollof Mash, Institute of Agribusiness Management of Nigeria (IAMN), and Green Development and Agro Allied Service.
This year’s summit was attended by the Consul General, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, His Excellency, Michel DEELEN; the Honourable Commissioner of Agriculture, Ekiti State Government, among other special guests of Honour.
With the theme, ‘Achieving Sustainable Financing and a Thriving Marketplace for Agribusiness in Nigeria, participants at the summit worried that smallholder farmers who produce 80% of the nation’s food face chronic challenges that include limited access to credit, high production risks, poor infrastructure, and weak market linkages, hence the need for urgent interventions to address the challenges.
Other resolutions reached include, regular training for farmers, building of demonstration fields to address extension services and as a strategy to connect the older generation of rural smallholder farmers to their offspring.
The summit also resolved on the need to form the farmers into cluster groups and cooperative groups under an umbrella managed by key actors with access to the funds. This will enable easy coordination, traceability, increased production volume, better compliance management systems, sustainability and greater impact.
In an interview, the Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Postagvest Solutions Limited, Mayowa Ekundayo said the summit was a strategic multi-stakeholder programme that is focused on providing solutions that can enhance productivity, sustainability and inclusiveness in the Nigerian agriculture ecosystem.
According to him, the platform, over the years, has championed networking, connections and collaborations that have provided partnerships with aligned objectives. It has, in particular, provided evidence-based innovations that can be implemented to address identified challenges within established value chains.
Ekundayo noted that the purpose of the summit was to provide innovative ways to solve the weak financing model and structure for small-scale agribusinesses in Nigeria and address specific market challenges that can enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability across the agricultural value chains in Nigeria.
The convener confirmed that the SAFE Summit serves as a platform for the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, through the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), to develop a strong interest in investing in Ekiti Stat in identified areas.
