NALDA targets 4000 jobs from Borno integrated farm estate

The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has disclosed plans to create about 4000 job opportunities from the establishment of an integrated farm estate and fish villages in Borno State.

The Executive Secretary of the agency, Paul Ikonne, said their target beneficiaries are Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) returning home.

According to him, the 100 hectares donated by the state would help in the establishment of a fish farm that would help about 2500 women earn a living, while another 1500 jobs would be provided from crop production.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the proposed NALDA integrated farm estate under construction in Jere Local Government Area of the state, Ikonne, alongside the State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, said efforts were being made to ensure that the facilities come into operation before the end of the year.

He noted that Borno has a lot of potential, which remained largely untapped, adding that the idea was to discover these opportunities through NALDA’s projects.

He pointed out that the authority’s intention is to reinstate the IDPs as well as engage them in the entire agricultural value chain and provide them with the enabling environment as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Governor Zulum, in his remarks, expressed his excitement in the potential of the project to create jobs for citizens who had lost their sources of livelihood to the current insurgency bedeviling the area.

Zulum said: “The people of this area have completely lost their means of livelihood and having this project in Borno State would ensure that many of our youths would be employed.”

He further allayed concerns of the sustainability of the current investments, given the wave of insecurity in the state in recent times, saying a sustainability plan had already been put in place to ensure that the projects were secured from vandals.