Business
agric attracts $1bn investment In Anambra
The Commissioner for Ag
riculture in Anambra State, Mr Nnamdi Mekoh, has said that the agricultural sector in the state had attracted more than $1 billion investment in 2014.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Abuja yesterday, the commissioner said the investments were made in rice and cassava farming, poultry and fisheries.
“We have attracted more than one billion dollar investment in rice, cassava, poultry and fishery in the past one year and in the next two years, we are going to sign in more investors,” he said.
Nnamdi said the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme of the Federal Government was working effectively in the state and they do not want it stopped.
The commissioner, however, said areas of improvement were being worked out, including a legal frame work to consolidate the scheme for a better delivery system. He also said that there were other state-based programmes for farmers to access fertiliser, improved seeds and access to heavy farm machinery.
“The GES scheme is a technology which is being used to drive the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government with the aim of repositioning the sector and produce 20 million tonnes of additional food in four years.
“The scheme allows registered farmers to access farm inputs like seeds, fertilisers and agro chemicals at subsidised rate via mobile phones.” He said the scheme was being expanded to include access to loans, insurance, heavy farm machinery and extension services.