Ekiti State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) has embarked on upgrading 1,000 kilometres of rural roads out of the state’s 8,103.32km rural road network, in an effort to increase agricultural production and ease farmers’ accessibility to markets.
State Project Coordinator, Hon. Sunday Adunmo.
He made this known during a press briefing in Ado-Ekiti, and added that the project had started yielding fruits by reducing the stress on the state’s limited road infrastructure, like a reduction in federal roads within Ekiti from 376.8km to 342.5km through interventions driven by the state.
Adunmo clarified RAAMP is also addressing the huge 862.2km of state roads and 1,301.1km of urban roads identified for market connectivity and upgrading, especially in agricultural zones.
“We have begun backlog maintenance on 250km of roads. Currently, 131.5km have been awarded, of which 65.15km are already in the initial stage of implementation,” he stated. “These include some state roads the government lacks funds to repair completely, which has called for RAAMP’s intervention.”.
He also said that an additional 450km of rural roads have been designed under a “spot improvement” programme, which will begin once the backlog maintenance phase is complete.
Adunmo stressed the impact of the project on agricultural development, saying that the improved roads have catalysed the opening of new markets, cut down travel time for farmers, improved safety and made farming more appealing by connecting farms to urban and federal road networks.
Nevertheless, he bemoaned the deplorable state of federal roads within the state, blaming it on years of neglect and lack of prompt federal intervention. Most of the roads, he explained, were constructed for vehicles weighing not more than 20 tonnes, but are now under heavy stress from trucks weighing well over 60 tonnes.
Due to the federal government’s advice against paying states for works executed on federal roads, Adunmo said the Ekiti government has resolved to construct bypasses in the meantime.
“This is a pragmatic step to reduce the hardship on farmers and ensure that economic activities are not paralysed,” he added.
