Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, yesterday, flagged off the distribution of inputs and grants worth over N4.6 billion to farmers and Information Technology (IT) startups in the state. This is a continuation of his food security, industrialisation and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) initiatives.

Performing the symbolic exercise at Michael Okpara Square, Mbah said that it is imperative to nurture small-scale entrepreneurs for sustainable growth through the provision of key enablers since they remain the lifeblood of economic development.

He said that 12,000 small-holder farmers would each receive one bag of fertiliser, which the Federal Government had graciously donated to all states.

He said: “In addition, we would be giving out 51 power tillers worth N2 million each to farmers from across farming clusters in Enugu State.

“We are also flagging off today the distribution of agricultural inputs to 1, 251 beneficiaries across the 17 local councils. These inputs include rice and bean seedlings, cassava stems, organic fertilisers, and herbicides, among others.”

The governor added that his administration would carry out an extensive revamp of several rural roads to facilitate a better road network, ensuring that the farming clusters springing up across the rural belt of the state did not exist as isolated units.

Mbah put the support for MSMEs at N1 billion with women-owned enterprises getting 80 per cent of the entire sum.

Mbah said: “The value of our entrepreneurship intervention programme being flagged off today is N1 billion. This includes the disbursement of N60,000 to over 16,000 beneficiaries, mostly comprising owners of nano-enterprises on a ratio of 80:20 in favour of women.”