Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has presented cheques of N48 million to 30 community associations in the state as part of FADAMA III project. The communities are made up of 145 FADAMA user groups.

The state government has also engaged some Vietna-mese farmers in rice production.

While presenting the cheques to the beneficiaries, the governor said the state government was working towards attracting more funds from the World Bank for disbursement to more farmers.

He said: “FADAMA III project is in line with government’s focus which is to develop agriculture as a renewable tool for job creation and wealth creation. The challenge we face today is that many youths do not want to remain in the farm as they want to migrate to the urban areas.”

Oshiomhole noted that the state had also distributed over 7,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer to farmers.

He added that the government decided to engage the Vietnamese farmers to cultivate rice in the state as part of its efforts to refocus on agriculture, saying that the nation must return to the idea of producing food rather than only consuming.

South-South coordinator of FADAMA III, Mr. Isaiah Foby, expressed gratitude to the governor for his support by paying the state’s counterpart fund and also distributing N1 billion to farmers earlier in the year.