Taraba State House of Assembly on Monday gave approval to the state government to obtain a credit facility of One Billion Five Hundred million Naira to facilitate agricultural development in the state.
Speaker of the state Assembly Joseph Albasu Kunini who read the communication from the state governor seeking the approval of the House at plenary said that the facility is intended to engage ten thousand youths in the production of cassava, soya-beans and cocoa in the state.
“Honorable Speaker, Honorable members, one of the surest ways for my administration to curb the menace of unemployment, rural-urban migration and food insecurity is through investment in the agricultural sector. In order to finance and boost commercial production of cassava, soya-beans and cocoa in Taraba State under the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme, Taraba State will engage ten Thousand youths and women farmers between the ages of 18-35 years in the production of these crops.
“Accordingly, in order to fulfil my administration’s goals in the agricultural sector as stated above, Executive Council resolved to accept the offer of One Billion Five Hundred million Naira (1,500,000,000) only to facilitate the CBN Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme through Zenith Bank Plc” the statement read in part.
Taraba State has enormous potentials in the production of wide variety of crops but most are still produced at subsistence level only.
