Edo Targets Huge Revenue From Pumpkin Leaf, Maize Export

Edo state government is targetting huge revenue from pumpkin leaf and maize export.

The feat apart from making the state self sufficient, would afford over 3000 female farmers and 300 young women to acquire training in large scale production of pumpkin leaf maize cultivation.

Wife of the state governor of Edo State, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki disclosed this when members of the action aid and the Ideal Development and Resource Center (IDRC) paid her a courtesy call yesterday in Benin City, Edo state Capital.

“There’s a set of 3-5000 female farmers that we were planning to work with in producing pumpkin leaf for export we have another set of 300 or so young women, they were working on some specialized maize specie, so we have got them across the state.

She said the state government was determined to curbing he menace of illegal migration through skills acquisition and youth empowerment.

The governor’s wife assured that the government would ensure that the youths who have been trained in basic skills by the organizations are well equipped with a technology village where they can make exploit in line with the skills they had already acquired.

Mrs. Obaseki also commended members of the action aid and IDRC for the work they have done so far in ensuring that children and youths have a voice in the state, while recalling the role they played in making sure that the child rights law was passed.

According to her, “You have done a lot of work with our children but we need more work for our women one particularly I got to know you’ve done you’ve done which I find very interesting is the value chain support that you did with the female farmers I believe, where you supported them with production, processing, packaging, the whole value chain.

“We need in Edo more than any other state do you know why? because this state is going to be the food basket of the nation. We have all the vegetation in Nigeria in Edo state we have the rainforest, we have the swamp, we have the savanna we even have small sahel, up north.

“There is nothing that can’t grow in Edo state that is why it is called the heartbeat of the nation. The potential of it being the heartbeat, you’re going to see more and more of it in the coming years so much so that people will be coming to Edo state to buy food, and the people are very hardworking people strong women and men, entrepreneurs and women farmers”, she said. 

The country director of Action Aid, Mrs Ene Obi had told the wife of the state governor that two thousands youths had so far been trained by the organisation in various fields like mechanics, tailoring, cobbling among others.
She stated that the organisation has turned rhetoric into reality by imparting lives of the downtrodden in society.