Oba Ewuare II of Benin Kingdom has offered 20,000 hectares of land to Guinness Nigeria Plc for the cultivation and processing of over $20 million cassava farm in Edo state.
The Benin monarch made the disclosure during the visit of the chairman of the brewery company, Babatunde Savage to his palace in Benin-City on Tuesday.
The traditional ruler who said the farm would be located in Ovia North-East local government area noted that the gesture was part of his determination and commitment to create employment for the teeming unemployed youths in Edo South senatorial district through agriculture.
“When established, many unemployed youths will be taken off the streets as well as creating better markets for all cassava farmers across the state”, the monarch said.
He added that the land was for the mass production of cassava and processing in this year farming season in the state.
He pointed out that the vision of the palace was geared towards the revival of agriculture for adequate food supply and raw materials for industries.
The monarch noted that the palace will join forces with the state government to create enabling environments for investors in the sector.
While appreciating the management of Guinness Nigeria Plc for the progress so far recorded in complementing palace’s efforts in agro businesses, the monarch promised to give the necessary support for smooth take off of the project in this year’s farming season.
Earlier the chairman of Guinness Nigeria Plc, Babatunde Savage said that they were at the palace to brief him on the successes recorded and some of the challenges being faced in its bid to commence mass production of cassava and processing in Bini kingdom.
According to him, the proposed cassava farm and processing would kick off this year’s farming season.
“We are expecting to produce over 20,000 tones of cassava annually from the farm. The cassava would be processed into cassava flower, starch, sugar and ethanol for industrial uses”, he added.
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