As part of measures to remediate some degraded portions of land and boost agribusiness in the Niger Delta, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has secured 900 hectares of land in all nine oil-producing states for agricultural purposes.
The agricultural land, which was secured in tandem with the Federal Government’s Holistic Opportunities for Programmes and Engagements, known as ‘Project HOPE’, would allocate 100 hectares of land for each of the nine oil-producing states.
Speaking in Port Harcourt on the agricultural project, Fubara Blessing, the Resource Consultant to the Niger Delta HOPE Initiative, said a system had been designed to look at the terrain and resources of the region to better identify and secure suitable farm inputs and implements meant for each State.
For Rivers State, he stated, there would be a cassava farm with a processor directly with it, saying, “We decided to do a cassava farm and offshore fishing with a tech hub.”
For Imo State, he said, there was a plan for a sugar cane plantation with a Sugar Processor and a tech hub.
“For Delta State, we want to do a cassava farm, an automobile Village and a tech hub. For Ondo State, we are doing a dairy production with butter, cheese, cassava, and a tech hub.”
He said Abia State has a design for a textile market and a vegetable farm plus a tech hub, adding that “for Akwa Ibom, we are doing a vegetable farm, a rice farm, and a tech hub, and for Cross River State, we are doing a poultry, a vegetable farm, and a tech hub.”
He said Bayelsa State would get a plantation, snailry, and tech hub for the short term, then aquaculture for the long term.
“For Edo State, we plan a cassava farm and cassava processor project plus a tech hub for the short term; and a furniture village for the long term,” he added.
The consultant said they also looked at the fundamentals, saying, “For the Agro projects, the key tenet is land; the size of land that would be needed, though we encourage small-holder farm systems, so they will be off-takers from the processing mill.
“With the MD’s permission, any moment from now, we start land breaking and planting in May 2024.”
He said the managing director, Samuel Ogbuku, had shown a deep commitment to the projects that began with the database scheme.
