The Bauchi state government says it will continue to partner Olam Nigeria in its on-going efforts to boost the cultivation of sesame seed in the state, and the country at large.
Gazali Abubakar, state commissioner for commerce, and industry, made this disclosure during an occasion organized by the Company to distribute assorted fertilizers, and other farming inputs to selected sesame farmers in the state which took place in Ganjuwa Local Government Area of the state.
Abubakar commended the company for the initiative, pointing out that the move was in line with the aspiration of the present administration in the country to make agriculture the core of the nation `s economic development.
He also praised the company for particularly been a leading provider of global market access for sesame seed farmers in the country in the last 20 years.
“I wish to express the delight of the Bauchi state government to the wonderful initiative of Olam Nigeria geared at expanding the production of sesame seed in the country.
“Olam has in the past 20 years being assisting sesame farmers in the country to access global market, and the initiative the company is inaugurating today is expected to have tremendous impact on our local sesame seed production” Abubakar noted.
In his address at the occasion which brought together from Ganjuwa, and other surrounding Local Government Areas of Ningi, Azare, and Giyade, respectively, Dip Sinha, regional manager of the company said the event was organized as part of the implementation of the company `sesame seed out-grower scheme.
Sinha revealed that under the scheme, the company is distributing over 5000 bags of assorted fertilizers, and other farming inputs to farmers participating in the programme.
Going forward, he added that 500 farmers from the state are among the over 2000 sesame farmers from four northern states being supported by the company under the programme.
“Under the scheme, Olam has already distributed over 5000 bags of fertilizer, as well as best quality seeds free of cost, pesticides for crop protection and training manuals to the farmers for adoption of best practice in pre and post-harvest farming techniques.
“We are glad to be partnering with the Bauchi State Agriculture Development Project (BSADP) in this venture which is going to provide training on modern sustainable agronomic practices that will translate into higher yield and quality products for the farmers.
“The out grower scheme tagged ‘Olam `s Model Farm Village’ has already been inaugurated in the states of Jigawa, Nassarawa, and Benue, in addition to Bauchi” Sinha explained.
The regional manager further disclosed that the initiative was an integral part of Olam Livelihood Charter (OLC) which has widely improved the live of farmers across the world.
Also, in his address, Bello Adamu, programme manager of the project said that as part of company `s Corporate Social Responsibility will be providing learning aides such as books to children of the participating farmers.
Bello added that the company is encouraged by the responses the programme is receiving among stakeholders, and it is going to include more villages in the programme next year.
Olam Nigeria Limited is a subsidiary of Olam International which is a leading supply chain manager of agricultural commodities in 70 countries globally, with a leadership in farming, Processing, risk management and customer services of agricultural commodities in 47 different products including Sesame, Cashew,
Cocoa, Rice, Cotton, Coffee, Ginger and many others
