The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria and the Southwest Farmers have signed a memorandum of understanding to foster peaceful coexistence between both parties in the zone, with the aim of achieving food sustainability and production in Nigeria.
At a day-long conference in Ibadan, the National Chairman of the Cattle Breeders Association and the Southwest Farmers, operating under the auspices of the Southwest Commodity Farmers Organization, signed the peace treaty.
Olusegun Dasaolu, the coordinator of the Southwest Commodities Farmers Organization, told reporters shortly after signing the peace pact that the summit was a wake-up call for farmers in the southwest states in terms of finding long-term solutions to some of the difficulties they face.
He stated that the memorandum of understanding represents an agreement between the herders and the Southwest to work together to promote food production and sustainability in the southwest region, and hence throughout Nigeria.
Mr. Olusegun assured that what would is for both parties to identify genuine herders and farmers within the region for a better farming experience.
According to him , “what the memorandum of understanding with cattle breeders translates to is that the farmers in the Southwest and the herders have agreed to work together for the unity of farmers and the progress of Agriculture so that conflicts will be resolved amicably amongst the stakeholders.
And from this moment on, the first step we are going to take is to identify the genuine herders in Southwest and who are the genuine farmers and we have agreed to connect better, he added.
He said, “this is going to go a long way in solving food crisis in the sense that farmers will now feel secured to go back to their farms and so Agricultural production will increase and this going assist greatly in the renewed hope of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu”
On his part, the National Chairman of Miyyeti Allah, Othman Ngelzarma acknowledged that the event was an opportunity to chart a way forward on ensuring the security both Famers and herders in the region.
He believes that farmers and herders in the Southwest are now united as brothers and must collaborate effectively to identify and address any problematic elements within the pastoralist community in the region.
Meanwhile, the Southwest Director of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Abimbola Akeredolu, advocated for the continued deployment of technological solutions in agriculture to support farmers and enhance food production.
