By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Akwa Ibom State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor, has said the state government is repositioning agriculture from subsistence farming into a major driver of food security, employment and wealth creation.
Offor stated this while speaking with journalists in Uyo on Thursday during a review of the administration’s performance in the agricultural sector.
She said Governor Umo Eno’s administration had introduced various interventions and leveraged donor-supported programmes to boost agricultural production and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
The commissioner said agriculture remained central to the state’s economy, noting that sustained investment was necessary to increase production, improve market access and create opportunities for rural communities.
She said the government’s Back to Farm and Home Farm initiatives were designed to encourage households to grow food for domestic consumption and generate additional income.
She said, “That’s how we used to live. He is trying to say, let’s go back to that way. Don’t buy everything from the market. Have a small garden where you can grow small things that you need for cooking and you can even give out.”
Offor added that the state had established an Equipment Leasing Company with tractors and other farm implements, which farmers could access at a 50 per cent subsidy.
“Farmers get 50 per cent off the regular price to work on their farms. Machines will help you work faster and get more than if you use manual labour,” she said.
She said the government was also supporting the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project, a World Bank-assisted programme, through counterpart funding to improve rural feeder roads.
According to her, the project had earmarked 486 roads across the state’s 31 local government areas to improve farmers’ access to markets, reduce post-harvest losses and enhance livelihoods.
She said an 11-kilometre market junction road in Ibesikpo Asutan Local Government Area had already been commissioned under the programme.
The commissioner further disclosed that through the Food Systems Resilience Programme and AK-CARES, farmers had received improved fingerlings, poultry, goats, sheep, cassava cuttings, fertilisers and herbicides.
She said more than 16,000 beneficiaries had received input support under AK-CARES, while over 150 rural roads had been graded and 81 wet markets rehabilitated with toilet facilities and slaughter slabs.
On tree crops, Offor said the state had launched the Tree Crop Revolution Programme, focusing on oil palm and cocoa production.
She said more than 620,000 oil palm seedlings would be distributed to 1,700 farmers across the 31 LGAs, adding that 14 LGAs had so far received 5,000 seedlings each.
For cocoa, she said more than 250,000 seedlings were distributed to over 3,000 farmers in 2025, while over 100,000 seedlings had been distributed to more than 850 farmers in 2026.
Offor said the state was also tracing the origin of cocoa produced in Akwa Ibom to ensure its quality and production were properly recognised.
She added that the government was establishing a 50-hectare Model Farm as an integrated crop and livestock project, with plans to replicate the model across the state’s senatorial districts.
The commissioner said the interventions were aimed at making agriculture more productive and attractive while creating sustainable economic opportunities for residents.
