By Sodiq Lawal
The governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has said that his administration is aiming to make farmers in the state become employers of labour. Soludo said this will be achieved through purposeful support for farmers in the state, both through loans and the presentation of modern farm equipment that will aid their work and increase their yield. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Dr. Onyeka Ibezim, stated this at the flag-off of the 2023 farming season in Awka, the state capital.
Addressing farmers in the state after the presentation of agricultural enhancement equipment estimated at N21 million, which was made possible by the Adani-Omor Zonal Staple Crops Processing Implementation Unit of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme Phase-One (ATASP-1), the deputy governor said: “I have confidence that the equipment presented to you today will turn the beneficiaries into employers of labour and major contributors to the food supply in the state and the country at large. The multiplier effect of this empowerment is what the government of Prof. Chukwuma Soludo has been talking about. We advise you to make good use of the equipment”.
Beneficiaries of the equipment are five farmers’ cooperative groups drawn from various communities in the state. The equipment included a mobile thresher, rubber mill, rice destoner, dryer machines, handheld planter, cassava grater, knapsack sprayer, and hammer mill. The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Forster Ihejiofor, explained that the equipment was provided with loans from the African Development Bank (AfDB), which would be paid back by the federal and state governments over time. ATASP-1 Adani-Omor Zonal Programme Coordinator, Romanus Egba, disclosed that the 13 beneficiary farmer groups were selected based on needs assessments.
