Kwara State’s strides in agricultural development again received a nod recently when the state Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed won Best Governor in Agriculture at the first Business Day States Competitiveness and Good Governance Awards in Lagos.
The Governor emerged winner in the fiercely competed Agriculture category, which featured eight other governors including Sokoto State’s, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, with whom he jointly won the award. The organizers, who also nominated Ahmed in the Ease of Doing Business Category, said the Governor got the nod for initiating agricultural policies and programs in the last 12 months as well as the positive outcomes of the previous initiatives to boost agriculture.
Represented by Dr. Muideen Akorede, his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Governor Ahmed dedicated the award to his predecessor, Sen. Bukola Saraki, who started the state’s agricultural revolution, the thirteen Zimbabwean farmers who kick started the Shonga Farm Initiative and the 150 outgrower farmers who are currently extending the scheme to other part of the state.
“As a government of continuity, we are up scaling commercial agriculture through the Kwara Agricultural Modernization Masterplan (KAMP), developed in partnership with Cornell University and extending commercial agriculture to the across the state through value chain development and our model of 10 out grower farmers per LG”.
“We are also establishing an Agric Mall which serves as a one-stop shop for farmers input including extension services, equipment leasing, credit facilities and other key inputs”.
Governor Ahmed said his administration was determined to generate 20, 000 agro allied jobs by 2015 and establish Kwara as a hub for true commercial agriculture in the sub region. The BusinessDay award for Best Governor in Agriculture brings to two the number of awards won by Ahmed in the last two years, having also won the African Leadership Award for Outstanding Agricultural Development Icon 2012.
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