The Adani-Omor Zonal Staple Crops Processing Implementation Unit of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme Phase-One (ATASP-1) has empowered 13 communities in Anambra State with farming equipment worth over N21m.
Speaking during the equipment presentation at the flag-off of the 2023 farming season, the Deputy Governor, Dr. Onyeka Ibezim expressed confidence that the items would turn the beneficiaries to employers of labour and major contributors to food supply in the state and Nigeria at large.
He said that five farmers’ cooperative groups among the benefiting communities will be empowered with different agricultural enhancement equipment estimated at N21m, including Mobile Thresher, Rubber-Mill, Rice Destoner, Dryer machines, Handheld Planter, Cassava Grater, Knap Sack Sprayer and Hammer Mill.
Ibezim advised the beneficiaries to ensure they make good use of the equipment, pointing out that the multiplier effect of the empowerment is in line with the Prof. Chukwuma Soludo administration’s agricultural agenda.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Forster Ihejiofor explained that the equipment were provided with loans from African Development Bank (AfDB), which could be paid back by Federal and state governments over time.
Ihejiofor disclosed that the equipment are not free, but were funded with public money, even as he counseled the beneficiaries to work hard and produce food in abundance at cheaper prices for the public.
In his address, the ATASP-1 Adani-Omor Zonal Programme Coordinator, Mr Romanus Egba disclosed that the 13 beneficiary farmer groups were selected based on needs assessments.
Egba urged the benefiting farmers to use the equipment to boost their livelihood and income, as well as create employment along the value chain of rice, cassava and sorghum, which are major objectives of ATASP-1.
According to him, “farmers in Umumbo, for instance, have been crying that they have a giant rice mill in their community, but couldn’t access it because they couldn’t afford it.
“We are able to provide them with another smaller rice processing machine, which they can install in their own village. We also supported our farmers in Awa and Awgbu with hammer mill because their problem is their inability to process cassava into flour. We believe this machine will boost their post-harvest processing capacities,” he explained.
He added that farmers were provided with sprayers to use in their farms, in addition to hand-held planters to avoid the pains of bending down to plant seeds in their farms.
