FG receives C-of-O of 4,000 hectares farmland from Delta govt

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina,
has received the Certificate of Occupancy ((C-of-O) of 4,000 hectares
of farm land from the government of Delta State.
The land, located in Abraka, was donated to the Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) for the High Quality Cassava
Flour (HQCF) nucleus farm in Abraka. The initiative is to support the
effort of the Federal Government aimed at massively producing cassava
as raw material for flour for the cassava bread initiative, to reduce
Nigeria's continued dependence on wheat importation.
Disclosing this, the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Misan
Ukubeyinje, observed that the "Delta State Government has concluded
plans for a large scale cassava transformation in collaboration with
the Federal Government through the FMARD and the private sector by the
formal acquisition and grant of C-of-O to a large expanse of land
approximately 4,000 hectares of land for the cultivation of cassava
andprocessing mill of HQCF. The acquisition of the remaining 2,000
hectares will be completed soonest, as the target is 6,000 hectares."
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina,
expressed gratitude to the state government, under the leadership of
Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, for this noble gesture, which is the first of
its kind coming from any state in the Federation. The minister, while
commending Delta State for the move, called upon other states to
follow suit.
"I was delighted when I arrived to receive the news that the governor
of Delta State has already allocated 25 hectares of land for the
establishment of the HQCF plant from a total of 6,000 hectares for
thedevelopment of commercial farms to supply the plant," the minister
said. "To accelerate the production of HQCF, the government is
supporting the private sector to access cheap financing to import and
establish 18 large scale cassava-processing plants. One of the plants,
with a total capacity of 72,000 MT per annum, will be located in
Abraka, in Delta State," Adesina added.
"We will work hard on it to make Delta State a leading state in
cassava.We will make sure the farmers of Delta State feel its impact,"
the minister promised.
He observed that, "with the work we are doing here, this also tells
you how we work in this ministry with state governments so that they
can diversify their economies and create jobs." The minister alluded
to the work going on in Kogi State on cassava, adding that, "in Kogi
State, theBrazilians cleared 200 hectares and planted them in one
week."
Responding, Mr Daniel Reyenieju, representing Warri Federal
Constituency in the House of Representatives, noted that "this is a
very interesting and progressive move by FMARD. He thanked the
government of Delta State that donated the land for the transformation
of agriculture in the state and diversifying beyond oil.
"The economy of Delta State will be progressively improved," he said,
adding that "the government of Delta State has taken a bold step" in
this partnership with the Federal Government.