One agenda that has continued to engage the attention of the Ebonyi State Government led by His Excellency, Apostle Engr. Chief Dr. David Nweze Umahi is food security for the people.
Armed with knowledge of vast domain of arable land, the governor has vigorously pursued the quest for agricultural transformation in the state – making it compulsory for every Ebonyian to be a farmer in its truest sense.
Seeing agriculture as a vast enterprise – comprising series of value chains – piggery, cassava, yam, fisheries, rice and oil palm, Governor Umahi, instituted the one man, one hectare policy of his administration.
The policy, as the name suggests, is characterised by the ownership of a land for at least, small scale cultivation of any of the value chains at the farmer’s instance.
This, he believes, will reduce the poverty line and over dependence on the monthly salary which, he has severally reiterated is not enough to run their individual needs.
Exploring all the avenues to drive home the policy, the Governor adopted a multisectoral approach -involving many actors – Central Bank of Nigeria with the Anchor Borrowers Program, Nigerian Incentive Risk Based Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL, and other donor agencies.
At home, academic, religious, and community actors – Town Unions, Traditional Rulers and youth groups are drivers of the agricultural transformation of the state.
During dry season farming, all the civil servants, public servants and private investors are profiled for disbursement of funds to farm expanse and hectares of land in line with the food security of his administration.
This policy, unarguably has yeilded the much expected results – no more food scarcity, but food sufficiency and security.
Of special reference is the massive roads that traversed the entire swathes – this has necessitated easy and unhindered ferrying of agro-allied resources from the suburbs to metropolis – a feat accomplished by his administration.
Initially, it …
to be continued
From the Office of the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Press Unit, Government House, Abakaliki.
