Mr Okon Owuna, the Cross River Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, has appealed to the people of the state to embrace the agro-industrialisation policy of Gov. Ben Ayade.
Owuna made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Calabar on Thursday.
The commissioner said that farming should no longer be seen as the occupation of the uneducated but everyone.
He said returning to the farm was one major way of addressing food insecurity and inflation in food price.
“The time has come for agriculture not to be seen as the job of the uneducated but for everyone including graduates, if we must ensure food security.
“The agro-industries established by Gov. Ben Ayade have begun operation – rice, cocoa, chicken processing factories and others but these factories cannot survive without raw materials from the farms.
“During the administration of Gov. Donald Duke, the emphasis was on tourism; under Gov. Liyeel Imoke, it was tourism and rural development.
“However, immediately the state lost its 76 oil wells in 2012, it became one of the least states in the monthly federal allocation,’’ he said.
Owuna said that to keep the state going, Ayade had to redirect the state’s policy to over 70 per cent investment in agriculture.
“This is because any responsible government must ensure there is food on the table of its citizens,’’ he said
The commissioner said the state government had done well in establishing the agro-industries to ensure food security and employment in the state.
Owuna said that sustaining the factories would not only make Cross River an agricultural hub in the South-South but the country at large.
NAN reports that the governor had established no fewer than 34 industries across the state and promised not to privatise them. (NAN)
