News

By Prosper Mene

The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor, has said the state government is repositioning agriculture from subsistence farming to a major driver of food security, employment and wealth creation.

Offor said the administration of Governor Umo Eno has introduced deliberate interventions and leveraged donor-supported programmes to strengthen agricultural production and improve the livelihoods of farmers across the state.

She stated this during an interaction with journalists in Uyo on Thursday, while reviewing the administration’s performance in the agricultural sector.

The commissioner noted that agriculture remains central to the state’s economy, making sustained government investment necessary to increase production, improve market access and create opportunities for rural communities.

She explained that the governor’s Back-to-Farm and Home Farm initiatives are aimed at encouraging households to cultivate food crops for domestic consumption and additional income.

“That’s how we used to live. He is trying to say, let’s go back to that way. Don’t buy everything from the market. Have a small garden where you can grow small things that you need for cooking and you can even give out,” she said.

Offor said the government has also established an Equipment Leasing Company with tractors and other farm implements which farmers can access at 50 percent subsidy.

“Farmers get 50 per cent off the regular price to work on their farms. Machines will help you work faster and get more than if you use manual labour,” she said.

She added that the government is supporting the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, RAAMP, a World Bank-assisted programme, through counterpart funding to improve rural feeder roads.

“The project has earmarked 486 roads across the 31 local government areas. It gives farmers easy market access, reduces post-harvest losses and improves livelihoods,” she said.

According to her, an 11-kilometre market junction road cutting across Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area has already been commissioned under the programme.

The commissioner further disclosed that through the Food Systems Resilience Programme and AK-CARES, farmers have received improved fingerlings, poultry, goats and sheep, as well as cassava cuttings, fertilizers and herbicides.

She said more than 16,000 beneficiaries have received input support under AK-CARES, while over 150 rural roads have been graded and 81 wet markets rehabilitated with toilet facilities and slaughter slabs to improve hygiene.

On tree crops, Offor said the state has launched the Tree Crop Revolution Programme with focus on oil palm and cocoa production.

“Over 620,000 oil palm seedlings will be shared with 1,700 oil palm farmers across the 31 LGAs. So far, 14 LGAs have received 5,000 seedlings each,” she said.

For cocoa, she disclosed that more than 250,000 seedlings were distributed to over 3,000 farmers in 2025, while more than 100,000 seedlings have been distributed to over 850 farmers in 2026.

She added that the state is tracing the origin of cocoa beans produced in Akwa Ibom to ensure its produce is properly recognized and not attributed to other states.

Offor also said the governor is establishing a 50-hectare Model Farm as a flagship integrated agricultural project combining crop and livestock production, with plans to replicate the model across the state’s senatorial districts.