NALDA, Ebonyi reactivate hatchery farm

The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and Ebonyi Government have promised to reactivate abandoned Akanleke Hatchery Farm in Abakiliki to boost commercial poultry production.
The Executive Secretary of NALDA, Prince Ikonne, made the promise on Wednesday in a statement made available in Abuja.

Ikonne said the authority would engage 3000 youths in its proposed 104 hectares of integrated farmland donated by the state government.
He added that that 90 per cent of the state’s poultry needs were imported from Abia and Cross River states.
He gave an assurance that the integrated farm estate would be completed by October, 2021.
Ikonne explained that the scheme would engage young Nigerians and make agriculture more attractive to them.
He commended the Ebonyi government for providing the enabling environment and infrastructure for the take-off of the project.

According to him, the authority would work inexorably to turn around the fortunes of agriculture in the state.
The NALDA boss said: “This will help in generating wealth and creating a new lease of life for Ebonyi youths.
“The governor has keyed into President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda to achieve good security in the country and has put in place the infrastructure to make our job easier.
“Farmers will be able to convey their produce to the market as a result of good road network in the state.

“The governor is eager and in a hurry for us to achieve food security.
“He is in total support of achieving the president’s vision and resolving herders and farmers crisis.
“So, Ebonyi is committed to working with NALDA to engage the teeming youths in full agriculture to make a living through farming and processing.
“With the governor’s commitment and having conducted us round the land donated for the project, we are fully ready to mobilise to work, start land clearing and construction of structures.
“Ebonyi has been selected to produce the fingerlings and day-old chicks that will feed the entire South-East and South-South.’’

The statement quoted Gov. Dave Umahi to have commended NALDA for the initiative.
Umahi was also said to have argued that no past presidents had been able to empower the citizenry like Buhari’s administration.
The governor underscored the need for those in leadership positions and their following to imbibe the virtue of hard work to surmount the nation’s economic challenges.
The governor requested NALDA to consider the production of fingerlings and poultry in the farm estate.
The governor pledged his commitment to the actualisation of the project in the state.
Supreme reports that the NALDA boss was in Ebonyi to inspect some of the projects in the industrial clusters.
These include the Ebonyi State Teaching Hospital, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Airport, Abakiliki International Market, New Government House and shopping mall, among others.