Enugu government, APPEALS, World Bank construct 15 cottage processing centres

•State govt moves to reform neighbourhood watch groups

Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project, a World Bank assisted intervention in the agricultural sector, in conjunction with the Enugu State government, has constructed and completed 15 aggregation and processing centres across 11 locations in the three senatorial zones of the state.

The project also intervened in nine locations of the state for the supply of power to its ultra-modern agric facilities. The projects were completed to assist farmers to maximise their agro product potential, including rice and cashew aggregation processing, as well as poultry processing centres.

Taking journalists round some of the facilities, yesterday, the Enugu State Coordinator of APPEALS, Ihuoma Eze, stated that they were conceived to help ameliorate the suffering of farmers from “post-harvest loss, as a result of inadequate bulk storage houses and near absence of processing facilities.”

Eze said that the new facilities would enhance farmers’ productivity, improve value addition and open up vistas of market opportunities both locally and internationally for Enugu farmers, as well as add significantly to the economic growth of the state, which aligned with the agricultural policies of Governor Peter Mbah.

ALSO, the Enugu State government has begun moves to reform and revitalise local security groups, known as neighbourhood watch, in the state, to enable them combat the increasing cases of kidnapping and armed robbery.

The Commissioner for Human Development and Poverty Eradication, Dr. Malachy Agbo, stated this when he embarked on a tour of the 17 councils in the state to sensitise and motivate members of neighbourhood watch groups on the need to rise to the task of protecting life and property in the state.