As part of an effort to engage women and youth in agriculture, the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has commissioned the reactivated integrated farm estate in Imo State.
The farm estate located at Achara-Ubo Emekuku in Imo State sits on 35 hectares of arable land with 6 poultry houses with 18 pens that contain about 15,000 birds, three goat houses with 196 goats and three piggeries containing 108 pigs.
It also boasts of three solar powered boreholes, access roads, drainage and solar powered street lights on the farm.
Speaking at the commissioning of the farm estate, Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne, said the farm will engage 600 direct beneficiaries in poultry, piggery and goatry, while 200 additional farmers will be engaged in the processing, packaging and export.
Ikonne stated that 1,000 farmers will be engaged in the area of animal husbandry, processing and packaging in the first year of the entire project.
He said the farm will be a centre that will train farmers within and outside Imo State.
According to him, 200 beneficiaries have been trained and empowered with knowledge as they are the first set of people to benefit from the project.
“They will pass out in the next 6 months, they will start their own farming activities and another set of people will come.
“Achara-Ubo farm is expected to take in 600 farmers, the processing and packaging section will soon start, which will take in additional 200 people and the crop section will soon start because we have provided the tractors.
The Executive Secretary who noted that the farm was abandoned for 30 years before NALDA took over and developed it, added that the farm is purely the desire of President Muhammadu Buhari to reactivate and reform farm estate across the country.
He said: “The project is in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration vision to create jobs for the youth and women to ensure food security.
“The president believes that going back to the land is the only way our economy can be sustained and our youth will be gainfully employed to achieve food security and we are very hopeful that the farm will be very productive and that the farmers will begin to earn income.
“The activation of this farm is one of the ways to demonstrate the passion of President Muhammadu Buhari in terms of agriculture,” he said.
He added that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the establishment of 3 cassava processing plants in Imo State which will engage 1000 women this farming season to enable more garri production and feed for the animals.
To ensure its sustainability, Prince Ikonne noted that the project will be handed over to the community to take its ownership for proper management.
Meanwhile, some of the beneficiaries of the project who spoke to journalists at the farm, applauded the federal government for resuscitating the moribund farm estate.
They said the training has helped them gain firsthand knowledge in animal husbandry.
One of the beneficiaries, Agba Kingsley, head of the goat department who left block molding business to join the farm, said he found farming more lucrative.