Agricultural schemes, for which the state was once known, are being revived. Farmers are meeting regularly with the state governor Peter Obi. At one of those meetings with the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), which included rice growers and members of the FADAMA Group in the state, Obi announced the release of N1b agric loan to help them improve their inputs and yield.
The state is also in partnership with various organisations to boost food production. Such collaborations with the National Programme for Food Security have, for instance, added five tractors and a modern fish farm to the state's agric sector. The governor inaugurated them at an event tagged Growth Enhancement Support.
There are other gains from the partnership. Medical equipment worth several millions of naira has been supplied to a hospital in Omasi community. A borehole has also been sunk there. Forty-six motorcycles were equally procured for the community's youths in addition to an ICT centre set up in the community.
Obi has always maintained that his administration will ensure that the state does not lack food. To actualise this, farmers are encouraged with various facilities, including cash and other inputs. But while the state prioritises the agric sector, the Obi administration says it must not lose sight of other sectors as well, which is why it is building roads in rural areas as well as enhancing life generally in the state.
A representative of the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr Akinwumi Adesina was on hand as Obi inaugurated the facilities. The minister thanked the governor for his interest and support for the development of agriculture in Nigeria.
He explained that the Growth Enhancement Support programme, being an initiative of the Federal Government, was conceived to address the challenges encountered in the distribution of agricultural inputs as well as subsidy administration. He said the programme was designed to facilitate timely and easy access to seeds and fertilisers at affordable prices.
Governor Obi said agriculture remained the key to development and called on the people of Anambra State to take it seriously. He assured them of his administration's support.
He said it was in recognition of the imperatives of enhancing farming that his administration strategically built over 60 per cent of the state's roads in the rural areas to open up agricultural communities to markets and other distribution locations. He added that his administration is also committed to all counterpart obligations in all its partnership programmes.
The Permanent Secretary, Anambra State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Andy Umeobi said that the Growth Enhancement Support would ensure that his ministry would ensure fertilizers got to the farmers for whom they are meant.
Speaking at the governor's meeting with farmers, the President of AFAN in the state, Chief Mekoh Nnamdi said with the support farmers are getting, the state would witness phenomenal growth in agriculture this year.
Governor Obi who said he was prepared to support farmers in all ramifications, though he warned that only genuine farmers and young people determined to go into production will get loans, and not those he referred to as "emergency or political farmers".
The chairman of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria in the state, Chief Paul Mgbechi commended the governor for the meeting, saying Obi has shown profound interest in the welfare of farmers and in the growth of agriculture in the state.
The leader of FADAMA, Mr. Chukwudi Mojekwu said Obi's support for the all-year farming scheme, has made it one of the best in the country. The World Bank and the National Fadama Coordination Office also have very warm impressions of the programme in the state.
In Awka, the state capital, the World Bank Team Leader, Dr. Abimbola Adubi said the global bank is interested in working with the Obi administration since it is evident that the governor is focused on tackling poverty.
Adubi also announced that Anambra has been chosen as one of two states in the country marked for piloting a new programme of the Bank while ICT centres will be sited there to help the farmers.
At the event, Obi distributed cheques totalling about N60m to FADAMA community associations.
Mojekwu, the state coordinator of the scheme, urged beneficiaries to work hard and ensure financial discipline, noting that the project is known for openness and transparency.
The Community Development Officer (CDO), Fadama Project, Mrs. Rosaria Ohaeri, called on the delegates from the 20 FADAMA participating local governments in the state to elect credible and dedicated persons to the state executive in their interest and that of the state.
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