…As State, FCMB Set to Disburse N1.5bn to Youth Agripreneurs
The Director-General of the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), Dr Debo Akande, has disclosed that the state has attracted over N46.6 billion in agribusiness investments under Governor ‘Seyi Makinde’s administration, while also supporting 46,000 smallholder farmers across various agricultural programmes.
Dr Akande, who also serves as the Executive Adviser to the Governor on Agribusiness and International Cooperation, made this known on Wednesday during the Omituntun 2.0 Inter-Ministerial Briefing at the Governor’s Office in Ibadan.
According to him, the Makinde administration’s strategic focus on agribusiness has led to the influx of 14 large processing companies and access to about $170 million in international development funding. He described agribusiness as the “anchor” of the state’s economic expansion agenda.
Akande said Oyo State has also successfully developed agricultural enablers such as industrial hubs, rural road infrastructure, security frameworks, and policy/legal instruments, which have facilitated the growth of agribusiness and attracted investors.
Among the administration’s major milestones, Akande highlighted the establishment of the Fasola Agribusiness Hub, which he described as Nigeria’s first Agricultural Transformation Centre. The hub has drawn about N17 billion in investments, covering 950 hectares for the cultivation and processing of crops like cashew, cassava, tomato, and dairy production from over 1,000 lactating cows.
He noted that 8,200 smallholder farmers have already been integrated with the Fasola investors to ensure a consistent and reliable agricultural supply chain.
“This is what you call agribusiness. These companies are using their own capital, paying the government for use of the facilities, and cultivating vast hectares of farmland. In Fasola alone, tomato cultivation in greenhouses is now done at a commercial scale, making tomatoes available year-round,” Akande said.
He added that the success recorded in Fasola has triggered plans to replicate the model in other parts of the state. He confirmed that a contract has been awarded, with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB), to begin the construction of a larger Ijaiye Agribusiness Industrial Hub, which will house over 40 medium and large-scale industries. Seven companies have already signed on to operate in the Ijaiye Hub.
In addition, the Eruwa Agribusiness Hub, modeled after Fasola, is also underway and currently oversubscribed by prospective investors.
“These agribusiness hubs will be expanded to Oke-Ogun 1, Oke-Ogun 2, and Ogbomoso, focusing on the comparative advantage crops from each region,” he said.
Dr Akande also announced that 5,020 youths have been trained in various agribusiness fields, with 1,000 of them set to receive support from a joint initiative between the Oyo State Government and First City Monument Bank (FCMB). The initiative will disburse N1.5 billion in support within the coming weeks.
He further disclosed plans for a statewide wholesale agricultural produce market in Ijaiye, in collaboration with France-based international food wholesale company, Rungis-Semmaris. The market, he explained, will help stabilise food prices and reduce the loss of value from produce transported outside the state without commensurate economic return.
Present at the briefing were the OYSADA Permanent Secretary, Mr Badmus Kolawole, and Mr Kola Kazeem, State Coordinator of the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES).
Akande concluded that the state’s approach is positioning Oyo as a leader in agricultural industrialisation, one that combines food security, economic development, and sustainable agribusiness models driven by private-sector collaboration.
