AGRICULTURE NOW TOOL FOR JOBS, WEALTH CREATION IN AKWA IBOM — COMMISSIONER
Read Time:2 Minute, 40 Second
By; Sunmola Ganiyat
The Akwa Ibom State Government is repositioning agriculture from subsistence farming into a major driver of food security, employment and wealth creation, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor, has said.
Offor disclosed this on Thursday in Uyo while briefing journalists on the administration’s performance and interventions in the agricultural sector.
She said Governor Umo Eno’s administration had introduced various initiatives and leveraged donor-supported programmes to boost agricultural production, improve market access and enhance farmers’ livelihoods across the state.
According to the commissioner, agriculture remains a key component of Akwa Ibom’s economy, making sustained investment necessary to increase production and create more opportunities, particularly for rural communities.
She said the government’s Back to Farm and Home Farm initiatives were designed to encourage households to cultivate food crops for personal consumption while creating opportunities to earn additional income.
Offor also disclosed that the state had established an Equipment Leasing Company equipped with tractors and other farm machinery, which farmers could access at a 50 per cent subsidy.
She explained that the initiative would reduce dependence on manual labour, increase productivity and enable farmers to cultivate larger areas within shorter periods.
On rural infrastructure, the commissioner said the government was supporting the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, a World Bank-assisted programme, through counterpart funding to improve feeder roads and connect farmers to markets.
She said 486 roads across the state’s 31 local government areas had been earmarked under the programme, adding that improved road networks would reduce post-harvest losses and ease the movement of agricultural produce.
Offor said an 11-kilometre market junction road linking parts of Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area had already been commissioned under the programme.
She further disclosed that beneficiaries of the Food Systems Resilience Programme and AK-CARES had received improved fingerlings, poultry, goats and sheep, as well as cassava cuttings, fertilisers and herbicides.
According to her, more than 16,000 farmers had received input support through AK-CARES, while over 150 rural roads had been graded and 81 wet markets rehabilitated with facilities including toilets and slaughter slabs.
On tree crops, Offor said the state had launched the Tree Crop Revolution Programme, focusing particularly on oil palm and cocoa production.
She disclosed that more than 620,000 oil palm seedlings would be distributed to 1,700 farmers across the 31 local government areas, with 14 LGAs having already received 5,000 seedlings each.
For cocoa production, the commissioner said more than 250,000 seedlings were distributed to over 3,000 farmers in 2025, while more than 100,000 seedlings had been distributed to over 850 farmers in 2026.
Offor added that the state was tracing the origin of cocoa beans produced in Akwa Ibom to ensure that the produce was properly identified and recognised.
She also revealed plans by the governor to establish 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 three senatorial districts.
The commissioner said the various interventions were aimed at making agriculture more productive and attractive while creating sustainable employment and economic opportunities for residents.
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