The Delta government on Tuesday announced that it had opened registrations for farmers whose farms had been washed away by a recent flood to record their data.
Mr. Austin Ogoro, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, made this statement to commemorate World Food Day in Asab.
He said that the theme of celebrating this year's “Achieving zero hunger” is under threat due to many factors, including natural disasters and conflicts.
He added that the Delta government is working with relevant federal government agencies on how to assist farmers affected by flooding.
He noted that the cooperation was aimed at totalizing hunger by 2030, adding that new agricultural programs will be introduced to support farmers in the next fiscal year.
He explained that, despite the impact of extreme weather conditions and other adverse events, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods, the world can achieve zero hunger through joint efforts in adaptive and sustainable farming practices.
The Permanent Secretary said: “Our efforts to achieve zero hunger were not without any problems, the most difficult – floods.
“This year a significant number of farmers suffered huge losses due to flooding, and in some cases was associated with the death of people.
“Measures were taken to collect information on all the losses of farmers in various camps of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and district offices of the Ministry of Agriculture in the affected areas of local government.
“We are begging the farmers affected by the flood to go and register,” said Ogoro.
He said that the state, in its efforts to stimulate agriculture, food and job creation, has distributed more than 10,000 cuttings of improved cassava varieties to 176 farmers for reproduction in 2018.
He said that rice farmers in the state also received support, which culminated in the cultivation of highlands and lowland rice on an area of about 300 hectares.
He said that support will be increased next planting season for growing rice during the dry season.
Ogoro said the state government supports cassava and rice farmers, as well as oil palm producers to develop the entire value chain that will serve as a game changer in the agricultural sector.
In addition, to meet the needs of human protein and job creation, he said that a large number of young people were engaged in fish farming and two clans of fish farms established in Évoulou and Mbiri.
He added that “both clusters are capable of producing 50.1 tons of fish per cycle.
“In order to facilitate the production of animal protein, the Broiler Outlaws system was developed, and a pig production program is currently underway, involving 25 farmers, and in December about 107 tons in the first round.”
