Govt Inaugurates Agric Transformation Committee

The Enugu State Government has inaugurated a 17-Man Agricultural Transformation Committee to produce a blueprint on how to tackle agricultural problems in the state.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Prof Martin Anikwe, told newsmen that the government was working toward becoming an exporter of agricultural produce by 2015.

Anikwe said that the inauguration of the committee was aimed at enhancing the realisation of the objective.

According to him, members of committee are drawn from the private sector, the state Ministry of Agriculture and the academia, and that they comprised people who are knowledgeable on how to move agriculture forward.

“It is expected that they will produce, jointly, the blueprint for us to carry most of our programmes forward,” he said.

The commissioner, however, urged investors to come to the state, saying that the government had created an enabling environment for their businesses to thrive.

Anikwe, who is the Chairman of the committee described Enugu as the hub for private sector participation in agriculture.

Other members of the committee are Dr Oliver Ngwu of the Enugu State University of Technology (ENSUT), Department of Agronomy, Prof Joseph Uzo, a Consultant in the ministry and Mr Alfred Ene, Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).

Mr Onyema Nwodo, the Project Manager, Enugu Development Project (ENADEP) and Dr Peter Ezeaku of the Department of Soil Science are also members of the committee