Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has launched a support package for 10,000 farmers, made up of 2,000 rice farmers and 8,000 cassava farmers, at the state's 2026 World Food Day celebration in Abeokuta, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported on October 17, 2026.
The package is delivered with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security under the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme, the report said.
What Each Farmer Gets
Each rice and cassava farmer receives two bags of fertiliser and one bag of urea, Voice of Nigeria reported. Cassava farmers also get 25 bundles of cassava stems and 10 litres of herbicide, while rice farmers get three litres of herbicide.
The state also handed over 10 tractors and 1,200 Android phones loaded with apps for weather updates, market prices and farming guidance. NAN said the equipment also included 20 rice planters and transplanters, eight threshers and farm tricycle trailers for farm settlements and farmers' associations.
The inputs are not free. "Beneficiaries will contribute 30 per cent of the cost of the inputs," Commissioner for Agriculture and Food Security Bolu Owotomo said, according to NAN. The government covers the remaining 70% through its partnership with IFAD, Voice of Nigeria reported.
Processing at Home
"Our goal is to process more locally, retain greater value and create more jobs," Abiodun said, according to Voice of Nigeria.
The state says it has completed 28 agricultural projects in the past two years across crop production, aquaculture, poultry and processing. These include a poultry processing plant at Ajegunle Farm Settlement in Odeda Local Government Area with capacity for 5,000 birds a day, along with solar dryers, warehouses and cassava processing centres, NAN reported. Ogun has also bought 39 tractors and four self-propelled harvesters and set up the Ogun State Agricultural Land Management Agency.
Under the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project, agribusiness firms have bought more than 283,000 tonnes of produce, Voice of Nigeria reported. Prof. Kolawole Adebayo, a former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, who gave the keynote, put the state's arable land at 1.2 million hectares.
Cassava Farmers Under Price Pressure
The cassava support comes as growers in the state report steep losses. Cassava merchants in Ogun and Oyo said raw cassava farmgate prices fell from ₦220,000 per tonne in May 2024 to ₦5,000 per tonne in May 2026, a 97.7% decline, The Guardian reported on October 9, 2026. The Pacesetter Premium Cassava Merchants and Value Chain Actors blamed a harvest glut, too little processing capacity and transport costs that often exceed the value of the crop.
FoodPrices Nigeria tracks garri and rice prices across Lagos markets, much of which is supplied from Ogun. Wider processing in the state would shape both what cassava farmers earn and what Lagos households pay for garri.
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