The Federal Government of Nigeria recently set in motion the exonerated 35-hectare Achara-Ubo Emekuku Integrated Farm Estate in Imo State, winning about 1,000 farmers in this establishment. It stated the absolved farm estate, which was jilted for roughly 30 years, now has six poultry houses with 18 pens that seat about 15,000 birds, three goat houses with 196 goats and three domiciles for pigs containing 108 pigs. The Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Land Development Authority, Paul Ikonne, uncovered in an affirmation accoutered in Abuja on Sunday that three solar-powered boreholes, roads, drainage and solar-powered street lights were now installed in the farm. He said the establishment was in accordance with the vision of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to make available jobs for the youths and women and promote food security.
Ikonne said, “Achara-Ubo farm is expected to gain 600 farmers, the processing and packaging section will commence soonest and will take in more 200 people. The crop subsection is also set to begin because we have brought the tractors.
“This farm will be a centre that will lecture farmers inside and outside Imo State and the 200 legatees have been edified.
“They are the first individuals to advantage from this enterprise and as they graduate in the next six months, they will initiate their own farming schemes and another batch of people will be taken in.”
Furthermore, he added, “This farm was deserted for 30 years before NALDA took control and bloomed it. The direct sponsalia is about 600 farmers into the poultry, piggery and goat sectors and an additional 200 yeomen into the processing, packaging and export.”
Ikonne detailed that in the first year of the project, about 1,000 farmers are to be deployed in the department of animal husbandry, processing and packaging.
He also stated that NALDA is in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to render financial backbone to beneficiaries of this huge project, buttressing that adequate financing will plunge them to set up their different farms.
