Plateau State governor, Barr Caleb Mutfwang, has flagged-off the awareness campaign and off-taking of farm produce from farmers by the Plateau Commodity Marketing Company (PLACOM) across the eight Federal constituencies in the State.
The measure he said is part of efforts to help farmers have faith in continuous production of their crops ), which will guarantee their food security, and grow the state economy through the improvement of its internally generated revenue and ultimately Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Mutfwang represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture Hon. Samson Bugama stated this during the flag off exercise for Langtang North/Langtang South Federal Constituency as well as Qua’an Pan/Mikang/Shendam Federal Constituency in the Southern Senatorial zones of the State.
He said: “As part of this, we have approved the establishment of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). The Plateau Commodity Marketing Company Limited (PLACOM) which will spearhead the marketing of Plateau state’s produce for both local and international markets.
“This company will not only buy produce from farmers at harvest but also manage post-harvest processes, facilitate access to finance and connect farmers with. Raider markets. This is a transformative step for the benefits of smallholder farmers in our economy.”
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Commodity Marketing and Food Security Hon. Ezekiel Davou noted that key objectives of the company are to promote and sustained the marketing of commodities from Plateau State.
“To enhance agricultural and solid mineral productivity by effectively managing supply chains and to foster the formation of cooperative societies for farmers as well as develop and utilize warehouse infrastructure for post-harvest management.
The Executive Chairman of Qua’an Pan Local Government Area of the state Hon. Christopher Manship, that of Shendam Hon. Nicholas Nshe both welcome the development which they said will address the challenges farmers are confronted with especially with the presence of private middle-men who use scale in buying rice in the zone.
The Council Chairman of Langtang South, Hon. Nanfa Nbin, further stated: “Predominantly our people are farmers, this will address the issues of exploitation of our farmers by the time PLACOM comes up with a price that is higher than what is obtainable now in the market.
“Because there are private companies that have scales already, so there is going to be a slide competition, except if there is going to be a ban on those people (scale operators),” he emphasized.
* Media Report