The statement quoted the FAAN Director of Cargo Development, Dr. Uchenna Ofulue, as saying this in Ilorin when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State.

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has said it will partner the Kwara State Government to develop a robust agro-perishable cargo sector in the state and Nigeria as a whole.

This was contained in a statement issued on Friday in Ikeja, Lagos by the authority's General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Yakubu Dati. The statement quoted the FAAN Director of Cargo Development, Dr. Uchenna Ofulue, as saying this in Ilorin when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State.

The statement noted that the initiative, when fully implemented, would attract unprecedented benefits to the state in particular and Nigeria in general. It enumerated some of the benefits accruable from the initiative as employment opportunities, improved standard of living for farmers and reduced rural-urban migration.

According to the statement, other benefits are foreign exchange generation, investment opportunities in logistics services and reduced youth restiveness. It further said the Federal Government had put in place incentives aimed at creating a conducive environment for the take-off of this initiative to encourage investors.

In particular, it noted that FAAN had developed and designated 14 airports as cargo airports to enhance seamless movement of agricultural produce both within and outside Nigeria.

In his response, Ahmed welcomed the FAAN team and lauded the initiative as one that was capable of adding value to the state and the nation. He noted that the state was already collaborating with professional farmers from Zimbabwe, Kenya and other notable agrarian countries in building capacity for farmers in the state with a view to improving yield in agricultural produce. He assured the FAAN team that the state government was ready to key into this initiative in order to make the programme a reality.