4,657 YOUTHS UNDER AGRICULTURE EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME WILL BENEFIT FROM ₦1 BILLION PROFITS IN EKITI

Biodun Oyebanji

To achieve strategical reinvest in agriculture in order to have food security in the state.

Ekiti State Government will on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, disburse ₦1 Billion to 4,657 beneficiaries under its Bring Back Our Youths in Agriculture programme.

The disbursement ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Osuntokun Pavilion, Government House, Ado-Ekiti, by 10:00 a.m.

In a statement made available to journalists in Ado-Ekiti, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security, Mr. Ebenezer Boluwade, said the funds represent profits from the programme’s last farming season.

He explained that the initiative aligns with the government’s empowerment drive to strategically reinvest in agriculture in order to achieve food security and create sustainable wealth for both the state and its citizens.

According to him, the programme is primarily focused on empowering youths by providing access to land, farm inputs, technical support, and a guaranteed market, enabling young farmers to build sustainable livelihoods and earn steady income.

He further assured that revenues generated from farm clusters and government-led agricultural enterprises are reinvested into the sector to sustain growth and expand opportunities, noting that ₦145 million was similarly earned as profits and disbursed to 911 youths under the same scheme last year.

“The initiative operates a cluster-farming model covering crops such as maize, yam, soya beans, cassava, vegetables, rice, and beans (cowpea). The State Government’s commitment to the programme has actually resulted in an increase in farm cluster centres from five to twelve, located in Eporo, Ose, Ikere, Ogotun, Omuo, Egbe, Aramoko, Oke-Ako, Iyemero, Gede, Isan/Ayede, and Ise with over 5,000 hectares of land cleared for farming, and five of the centres equipped with fully functional dormitories” he affirmed.