Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State. By John Ndu Awka, Nov. 27, 2020 (MOI) Anambra State Government joined the commemoration of Wor...
By John Ndu
Awka, Nov. 27, 2020 (MOI) Anambra State Government joined the commemoration of World Food Day by giving out cheques to no fewer than 6,000 farmers to enhance food security in the state and the nation.
The World Food Day is a global celebration to commemorate the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) founded in 1945; it provides a forum for all nations to re-negotiate issues and actions against hunger.
The event, which took place at Alex Ekwueme Square, also witnessed the launch of Anambra Agricultural Compendium, launch of Dry Season Farming and the distribution of threshers to rice cooperatives.
The event also witnessed the presentation of cheques for CBN-funded Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) to benefitting farmer cooperatives, performed by the Gov. Willie Obiano.
The Governor, at the flag-off of the 2020 Dry Season Farming in state, said the event was coming at a time that the global economy was experiencing a downturn.
He stressed that the event was crucial in cushioning the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic and the flood disasters that devastated many farmlands in various parts of Anambra State.
Gov. Obiano noted that rice production in Anambra had risen from lowly, 80,000 metric tonnes per annum on assumption of office in 2014 to current all-time 440,000 metric tonnes per annum.
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According to the Governor, in the wake of the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, we responded promptly by launching the 2020 farming early enough in April.
“This enabled our farmers to move in early into their farms. We also adopted other measures ‘Ugbo Azuno’ to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown.
“All these measures ensured that Ndi Anambra provided enough food and ensure that the prices of food stuff remained stable.
“My administration’s strategy of structuring agriculture as the number one pillar, placed it like a roaring flame. No one can hide them in a bushel. The statistics speak for themselves,” Gov. said emphatically.
He added that: “Anambra has captured 118,929 farmers and 3,126 Co-operative Societies registered on the e-Agriculture Centre of the state.
“More importantly, most of our farmers have made a swift transition from season farming to an all year-round farming with increasing use of irrigation and the adoption of global best practices in agriculture.
“Our partnerships with major agro investors like Coscharis, JOSAN Agro Ltd., Stine Industries, Lynden Farms, Chelsea Farms, Ekcel Farms, Eagle Farms and other investors in the agro-allied sector have been hugely been successful, drawing the attention of the entire agricultural establishment in Nigeria to Anambra State.”
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