By Joke Falaju, Abuja

The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has stressed the need to continue its agricultural initiatives to achieve food security in the country.

The Executive Secretary of NALDA Prince Paul Ikonne who stated this while reeling out the achievement of the Authority in the last four, years said if these initiatives are sustained and built upon, it enable Nigeria to attain food security in no distant time.

He said, “If continued, definitely, we will achieve food production. So continuity is key. Agriculture requires infrastructure. And then from infrastructure you continue because it’s a business that you must be patient with, not something that you will put in today and you expect to harvest immediately. So that is why continuity is key in this thing.

Speaking on the establishment of NALDA agricultural Empowerment centres in Osun, Nasarawa, Katsina, and Cross River states, Ikonne said the centres are developed to train youth in agricultural activities.

Ikonne further explained that “The Empowerment Center was in collaboration with landowners and farm owners who provided their farm land, what NALDA did was to improve on what they have for those that have something and in their farms. For those that provided empty land, what we did was to build it up like it was overdue”

“We just finished building a place that will be like a center for snail production fully completed, but not yet stock, you know, animal husbandry and goatry that the farming will provide will provide those services”

Meanwhile, the ES disclosed that NALDA also established its goat farm in Kebbi and Yobe states that empowered the beneficiaries.

He noted that NALDA’s Institute of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship has been established in four regions in the country, namely South-east, South-west, South-South and North-west.