‘NALDA’s Imo Farm Estate, Abia Fish Village To Boost Annual GDP With N1bn’
The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) integrated Farm Estate in Imo State and Fish Village in Ariam Abia state, South-East Nigeria will generate One billion naira annually into the country’s GDP and create 800 direct jobs.
According to blueprint.ng, the Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Paul Ikonne, made this known while on an inspection tour at the two project sites in Imo and Abia States.
Speaking while on an inspection tour at Acharaugo Emekuku Integrated Farm Estate in Owerri North, Local Government Area of Imo State, Ikonne said the farm estate is on a thirty-five (35) hectares of land that has been abandoned for more than 30 years.
According to him, NALDA had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Imo State government to take the abandoned integrated farm estate, reactivate it and engage the people of the community.
This, he said, has the capacity to engage about five hundred (500) farmers directly where there will be a veterinary training centre to give practitioners and prospective veterinary doctors the opportunity to be trained and acquire knowledge on how to take care of the animals within the farm.
“Our intention is to make the farm fully functional, bring back the things that used to be there before like the poultry, piggery, goat pens and additional facilities like the processing unit, packaging unit, training centers and snail rearing where farmers will be taught on rearing and processing.
“The land is within thirty five (35) hectares but the governor has assured us that he is going to increase it to one hundred (100) hectares capacity that would be able to take in all these and then have crop production area.
”For us, it is purely based on President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to reactivate abandoned farm estate and create new ones in order to create employment and achieve food security for the country and also attract the youth to go into farming, so the youth can see farming as a way of life and means of livelihood”, he said.
