As part of its commitment to curtailing rural-urban migration and creating a greater access to farms and agricultural markets across the state, the Oyo State Government has completed 88.02 km of rural roads and modern markets under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP).
The completed projects, which fall under phase one of the project, were inspected in Akinyele, Ido, Oluyole and Ona Ara Local Government Areas by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Barr. Olasunkanmi Olaleye and his team.
Speaking shortly after the inspection on Wednesday, Barr. Olaleye stated that the programme’s objectives are to enhance rural connectivity and strengthen the enabling environment for sustainable road development, maintenance, and administration, among others.
“The goal is to link farming communities to economic opportunities and lower the cost of food for resident consumers,” he explained.
The commissioner added that the project is a collaboration between the Oyo State Government and the World Bank and that it was designed to solve a long-standing barrier for rural farmers: getting produce to market without losing time, money, and product to bad roads.
He said: “The Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project is in its phase one. We have two things we are doing: we are doing rural roads and then we are doing markets.
“For rural roads, we have completed the surface dressing of the road from Alako Idi-Iya to Batake to Ijaye Farm Settlement. That’s about 36.4 kilometers. Then we also have the road from Adebayo-Alata to Aba Oje, and that one is almost completed. All the rural roads we are doing under phase one total about 88.02 kilometres.
“Other ongoing roads are Fasola Farm Settlement, Interchange/Oloko Road in Oyo, Ikere George Dam Road in Iseyin, Tewure-Ila Junction in Oriire Local Government in Ogbomoso, and Okudi-Oyada Road in Atisbo Local Government in Saki.
“The purpose of these roads is to ensure that farmers and rural communities have access to get their produce to the markets and then to the city center.
“For the markets, we have completed Akanran Market. We have completed Oja Oba Market at Igboora in Ibarapa Central Local Government, and Oja Agbe Market in Iseyin is almost completed. So all in all, we are working on three markets.
“The whole idea is to create access for rural people and farming communities to have access to bring their produce to the market, for consumers to have access to buy fresh farm produce, and also for farmers, consumers, and the entire community to grow.”
While fielding questions from newsmen, the commissioner addressed the issue of allocation of shops at the markets, noting that a committee involving local government officials, market leaders, members from the RAAMP project committee, and community representatives will be set up to ensure fair allocation, maintenance, and sustainability of the markets.
He equally spoke on the issue of maintenance of the projects, saying: “We have a maintenance plan where we have a committee that will manage the infrastructure. We have the local government, we have the market leaders, we have the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project committee, and then the community itself. They will all work together to ensure that the infrastructure is maintained.”
Speaking on the cost implication of the road projects, Barr. Olaleye disclosed that the total amount for all the roads (88.02 km) is ₦16.273 billion.
While speaking with newsmen, the road project supervisor, Engr. Atilade Otunla, noted that the roads were constructed using surface dressing technology rather than asphalt, which according to him, is not only cheaper and faster than asphalt, but is also built to last if properly maintained.
In their separate responses, some residents of the various benefiting communities lauded Governor Makinde for the kind gesture towards the communities.
Speaking about the facilities put in place at the newly-completed markets, the supervising consultant, Engr. Basit Opeloyeru, explained that the Aare Alasa Agbejoda Market consists of 500m of asphalt roads within the market, a 60m by 30m warehouse, one administrative block, two blocks of lock-up shops with 40 rooms, six blocks of open sheds with 10 per block, one large open shed, and two toilet blocks for males, females, and persons living with disabilities.
