The Anambra state governor, Willie Obiano, in a continued effort to ensure food sufficiency and job creating opportunities from agriculture in the state had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chelsea Group Limited.
The deal was for the development of a mechanized large scale commercial agricultural project to the tune of sixty eight billion naira. The project which would see to the cultivation of maize, cassava and soya beans as well as the development of an Ethanol plant would be cited in Omasi community in Ayamelum local government area on ten thousand hectares of land.
Signing the MOU, Governor Willie Obiano, said his administration had a clear vision in the area of agriculture which had led to the aerial mapping and soil sample tests conducted across the state to identify areas of advantage for each kind of crop to be able to guide agro investors when they come to invest.
“Apart from security, which is guaranteed, you have the benefit of what is already set up to be able to do your things and be able to navigate your processes.
“With our aerial mapping, anywhere in the world, you will be able to see your farm with the coordinates. This is a great plus and coming to this project that will in the first segment be on about five hectares of land, where you will do maize, cassava and soya beans and you use cassava to convert to Ethanol in a way that nothing in cassava is wasted because he leftovers will be used for feed and what have you.
Everything about cassava will be utilized and this is money in agriculture and I’m happy that this project when it is fully done will take a thousand direct job and over two thousand or more indirect staff which is critical because our objective in agriculture is not only to be self-sufficient in food production and also to export food but also to create job opportunities.”
The governor urged the chairman of the agro company to hit the ground running to ensure completion on record time.
Pledging dedication and speedy execution of the project, the Chairman of company, Mr. Patrick Chidolue, commended the governor for the security infrastructure which has been investors’ attraction to the state, and remarked that he would not only cultivate and process the itemized crops but he will also take up other agricultural interventions in the area of planting economic trees.
According to Mr. Chidolue, “What we have going for us in Anambra state that made it attractive for us to come down here and strategize our businesses, is that there is security in Anambra state.
We are going to go into cultivation, as we cultivate, we process what we have cultivated and then gradually, so many businesses will spill off. But above everything, our intention is that now it is possible that we can cultivate and participate in the economic development of Anambra, we will not waste any time. We will try our best in very record time to achieve great success and then propose to this state for partnership to continue to plant economic trees in all the available lands that have not been taken.”
Mr., Chidolue also said the state structured agric blue print especially in provision of large scale commercial land for farming was quite commendable.
Buttressing the essence of the project and the readiness of the state to undertake large scale mechanized commercial farming, the Chairman of Anambra state Investment Promotion and Protection Agency, ANSIPPA, Mr. Cyril Enweze, explained and said, “This project is in two phases, There is phase one and phase two with a total of ten thousand hectares and the two phases will be completed in four years. What is important to me as Chairman of ANSIPPA today is that the first phase will commence at most within six months and be completed at most within eighteen months. And we are counting very heavily on the good signs that you have already given us in terms of the decision you have made to bring this to Anambra state. And we are very hopeful that you are going to live by your word of the understanding we have with you in these particular areas, because time is of the essence.”
For the Senior Special Assistant to the governor on Agriculture and Export, Mr. Mike Ogbuekwe, the state has ensured that large scale agricultural farm lands will not be a challenge to investors because according to him, “the biggest problem that large scale commercial farmers face is to have access to large parcels of land because of our land tenure system”.
The state government has signed a total of eight agricultural MOUs and the present project which will be sited in Omasi, which will also incorporate green house project will aside creating job opportunities, providing raw materials, boosting the state Internally Generated Revenue, will ensure sufficiency in cassava, maize and Soya beans production in the state.
