Food Security: Commissioner Advocates Review Of Agric Curriculum

The Abia Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr Uche Enyioko, has advocated the overhaul of the country’s agriculture curriculum to reflect the Federal Government’s resolve to attain food security.

Enyioko told newsmen in Umuahia on Tuesday that the quest for the attainment of food security must be well inculcated in school children by way of practical knowledge.

“As the country marches forward to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals which includes food security, we cannot afford to leave our children behind, because these are the people who will sustain the efforts when we are gone,” he said.

 The commissioner expressed regret that stakeholders in education no longer made the study of the subject interesting as it used to be.

He said that no nation could move forward if the agricultural sector was neglected.

He said the state government was making every effort to attract  youths into agriculture through various reforms and the procurement of 55 modern tractors which, he said, would be distributed to genuine farmers.

He further said the state government was committed to the payment of its counterpart fund for the World Bank assisted Fadama and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)  programmes.

Enyioko said the state Ministry of Agriculture, through the Small Holder Oil Palm Project, has raised over 100,000 improved oil palm seedlings which were distributed to farmers.

 According to him, the state government has also distributed more than one million improved F3 Amazon Cocoa seedlings, adding that the Abia Palm Estate in Ohambele, Ukwa East Local Government  Area was being reactivated.