Afe Babalola announces farmers’ house and cash awards in Ekiti

Afe Babalola, the chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, has announced plans to establish an Ekiti Farmers’ House to promote modern and large-scale agriculture in the state. He made the announcement at the 2026 Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo in Ado Ekiti on Saturday. The event brought together farmers from the state’s 16 local government areas and was held under the theme “AI for every farmer: Farming Smarter, producing more and earning better”.

Babalola said the proposed Farmers’ House would have a secretariat and work with the Ekiti State Government and the 16 local governments. It would acquire equipment including ridgers, ploughs and harvesters, which farmers could rent at low rates. He said the arrangement was intended to help farmers engage in more productive agriculture and encourage young people and university graduates to enter the sector.

Babalola also cited challenges facing Nigerian farmers, including kidnapping, robbery and herdsmen invasion. The annual expo began in 2015, with the stated aim of presenting agriculture as a respectable profession. At this year’s event, Babalola gave the overall best farmer in Ekiti a prize of N2m.

The top three farmers in each local government area received a combined N350,000, divided into N200,000 for first place, N100,000 for second and N50,000 for third. Two youths from each local government also received equipment after training in plantain-chip production, packaging and marketing under the Afe Babalola Youth Empowerment programme. The Oore of Otun Ekiti, Oba Adekunle Adeagbo, praised the initiative and said agriculture was important to food security and national development.

Organising committee chairman Prof Abiodun Ojo said the expo had developed into a platform for recognition, empowerment and agricultural development.