Coscharis Farms Limited has commissioned its N12 billion ultra-modern state-of-the-art rice mill, with a capacity of processing 40,000 metric tonnes of paddy per annum.
The investment, sited in Igbariam, Anambra State has already created over 470 direct and indirect jobs as the company participates across the value chain from seed multiplication to production and processing.
Cosmas Maduka, chairman, Coscharis Group, a parent company of Coscharis Farms Limited said during the commissioning that the plan to build a rice mill was motivated by the desire to create jobs and contribute significantly to ensuring that the country attains self-sufficiency in rice production.
“The plan to build a rice processing mill is motivated by our desire to fix a problem. We want to create more jobs and also want to build skills in the region,” Maduka said.
“We want to contribute significantly to the government’s efforts to ensure food sufficiency through local production of rice,” he further said.
He noted that the processing mill has come to stay and improve the quality of life of the indigenes while driving economic growth and development.
He applauded the Federal Government for its various initiatives in supporting agriculture, saying that the president has a clear agenda of food sufficiency in the country.
Similarly, he appreciated the Anambra State government for supporting the initiative right from the start and for creating a conducive environment that has made the investment possible.
“Coscharis Farms Limited did not achieve these important milestones alone, we enjoyed the partnership and cooperation of many,” he said.
Nigeria’s milled rice production is currently put at 4.78 million metric tons, while domestic demand is put at 7 million MT per annum, indicating a demand-supply gap of 2.2 million MT, data from the United States Department for Agriculture state.
But with the rice produced and milled by the Coscharis Farms, the country’s deficit will be further reduced.
Speaking also, Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank said that the project is a national reference to the apex bank as it was funded under the N200 billion Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) intervention of bank.
Emefiele stated that the mill will not only milled rice paddy produced by its farm but also the ones grown by smallholder farmers under the Anchor Borrowers Program.
“The fact that Coscharis Farms Limited is a reality today is an attestation to the fact that the objectives of the administration of President Mohammadu Buhari towards diversifying the Nigerian economy and creating jobs through focused intervention in critical areas is yielding results,” he said.
Willie Obiano, Executive Governor of Anambra State said that the Coscharis Farms played a strategic role in his efforts in transforming the state into an agrarian state that has impacted positively Anambra rice production.
“As a state, our rice production has grown over the years and we produce 345,280metric tons of rice in 2018,” he said.
Josephine Okojie
