2025 Agribusiness Int’l Summit: We’ve Transformed Agriculture Through Institutional Reforms –Makinde
•••Unveils Certification Mark For Home-grown Products
•By OYENIYI KAZEEM
IBADAN – OYO State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, said on Wednesday that his government has succeeded in transforming agriculture through institutional reforms.
He maintained that the state decided to go through a structured agribusiness model that creates jobs, supports farmers, attracts investors, and strengthens its internal revenue base to move the state from poverty to prosperity.
Governor Makinde stated this at the second edition of the Oyo State International Agribusiness Summit 2025, held at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, which was attended by critical stakeholders in the agriculture sector as well as bankers, industrialists and development partners from across the world.
The governor, who said his government spent its first six years focusing on agriculture as one of the key drivers of the state’s economy, noted that the summit provided an opportunity to speak to the strategy it adopted over the years.
He described the summit as a reminder of what collaboration and interconnectivity could accomplish, adding that it represented the state’s commitment to transforming agriculture from a subsistence activity into a modern engine of inclusive economic growth.
The governor also unveiled the ‘Grown in Oyo State Certification Mark’, the state’s official stamp of authenticity for agricultural produce cultivated within the state to represent renewed commitment to quality, transparency, and a modern agribusiness ecosystem for connectivity of all agribusiness stakeholders through a trusted identity system, reiterating that his administration would continue to support genuine investors and foster meaningful partnership to boost the economic opportunities of the state.
Speaking on the theme of the summit, “Expanding Oyo State’s Economy through Agricultural Industrialisation,” Governor Makinde said that industrialisation is imperative for inclusive economic growth, noting that this has been the focus of his administration in the last six years and six months.
He reiterated his continued commitment to transforming Oyo State from potential to productivity and from productivity to prosperity, calling on agribusiness investors to explore the opportunities that abound in Oyo State, including abundant arable land with a favourable climate across multiple agro-ecological zones; a young and credible workforce; proximity to Lagos, which is Nigeria’s largest consumer market and emerging industrial hubs with infrastructure and security.
He added that the investors would also have access to “a government that listens, responds, and partners and finally, a commitment to policy stability and continuation.”
He said: “I welcome you all to the Oyo State International Agribusiness Summit 2025. This gathering is a reminder of what collaboration and interconnectivity can accomplish. It represents our commitment to transforming agriculture from a subsistence activity into a modern engine of inclusive economic growth. For inclusive economic growth through agribusiness, we definitely will have to industrialise.
“This is what we have been doing for the first six years of this administration, focusing on agriculture as one of the key drivers of Oyo State’s economy. So, this summit provides another opportunity to speak to the strategy we have adopted over the years, leading up to this summit theme, Expanding Oyo State’s Economy through Agricultural Industrialisation.
“The vision has remained consistent, to move Oyo State from potential to productivity, and also from productivity to prosperity. So, to move Oyo State to prosperity, we decided to go through a structured agribusiness model that creates jobs, supports farmers, attracts investors, and strengthens our internal revenue base. This is exactly the basis for us gathering together.
“Before, the idea of agriculture solely as a business was not a popular concept. The government was providing subsidies to support subsistence farming with no clear strategy to support large-scale agriculture and no coordination between policy, infrastructure, research institutions, and private sector investment.
“Where I sit as the governor of the state, within 20 kilometres radius, you have IITA, you have Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria, CRIN and many others, and we asked ourselves, as a state, what have we done to bring in all these institutes where they carry out research, where they do quite a bit to improve the model that we are using?
We decided that charity would begin at home and we partnered with IITA to start with. And, for our cocoa rejuvenation now, we are partnering with both IITA and Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria.
“We believed that to change our narrative, we must do something and we did something. We formed the Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA).
This was created as a special purpose vehicle and dedicated implementation engine. As you have attested, from just that idea, we’re creating a solid foundation for agribusiness development in Oyo State.
“The roadmap that we adopted has included agriculture as a business; we’ve been creating infrastructure, youth and women in agriculture, research-driven production, also financing and investments. That was a decision we took.
“We also have institutional reforms. When we came in 2019, we started by connecting all the zones with infrastructure. We connected Oyo to Iseyin and we connected Iseyin to Ogbomoso, Iseyin to Ibadan and then Iseyin to Ibarapa. The only one we are working on that will complete the connectivity is Eruwa to Ibadan.
“The only way to appreciate what Oyo State has been able to achieve through institutional reform is to go to any of those produce belts. Take Iseyin, for instance, or Eruwa, and you will see trucks coming to take produce from Oyo State. That means we’re actually producing quite a lot, but because it is not happening at the same time with our neighbouring states, you’re not seeing much of the impact.
“Also, for the SAPZ project, there are two zones, Ijaye and Eruwa zones that are coming up to complement Fasola. Land preparations are ongoing in there and the two zones will become operational.
“Let me also say this. Yes, it’s good to talk about import substitution, but our approach is not just to substitute imports. When you take that approach, you’re limited to your own internal markets. Whatever efforts we are making should also be good enough to export and end foreign exchange from Nigeria and Oyo State.
“So, let me welcome you the investors. One thing that I think you can take away from this interaction is that this will be an opportunity to deepen public-private partnership in Oyo State. We’ll do everything possible to support new investors in Oyo State.
“We have decided we will invest our money, because the jobs that will be created will be for Oyo State people, but the produce that will come out of that place will be for the entire country and also for exports.”
In their separate goodwill messages, the Ambassador of Belgium to Nigeria, His Excellency, Pieter Leenknegt; the Consul General, Trade Counsellor of Denmark in Nigeria, Ms Jette Bjerrum; the immediate past Director-General, CGIAR/IITA, Dr Nteranya Sanginga and the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria PLC, Mr Segun Alebiosu, lauded Governor Makinde’s innovation in driving agribusiness in the state.
They promised more partnership to boost the economic value chain.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director-General of OYSADA, Dr Debo Akande, noted that the state has made a giant leap into an exciting future of opportunities in industrial agriculture, food security, economic growth, and economic development of the state.
Akande maintained that the future of the state lies primarily in the development of its agribusiness ecosystem through the industrialisation of agriculture, adding that rural infrastructure development has been driving agro-based industrialization in the state.
He equally revealed that the state will collaborate with several regional and global trade instruments that would allow access for agribusiness industrialists to trade globally.
The event had in attendance the Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Barr Bayo Lawal; Secretary to the State Government, Prof Olanike Adeyemo; Chief of Staff, Otunba Segun Ogunwuyi; Deputy Chief of Staff, Hon Kazeem Adeniyi; Chairman and Co-Chairman, Oyo State Elders’ Council, Dr Saka Balogun and Elder Wole Oyelese respectively, members of the diplomatic corps; commissioners, permanent secretaries, and traditional rulers, among other dignitaries.