World Food Day: Enugu targets annual 5 million metric tons of cassava, 1,000,000 tons of rice production

The Enugu State Government has revealed plans to produce 5,000,000 metric tons of cassava and 1,000,000 metric tons of rice  on annual basis to ensure food security in the state.

Equally, the state government has initiated a private sector led federal, state and local government enabled public -private partnership, PPP, on bio-economy focusing on cassava to bioethanol value chain development.

This was disclosed by the Enugu State Commissioner for Agriculture, Patrick Uburu, during a programme to mark the  international food day tagged “Right to Foods for a Better Life and Better Future,” at the Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT on Wednesday.

Uburu, who was represented by the state Programme Coordinator, International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, Dr. Edward Isiwu, further stated that the state had initiated Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training for rice farmers across major rice producing local government areas in the state since November, 2023.

He further noted that the state government has commenced training of women and youths on food processing and nutrition across the 17 local government areas of the state, adding that the state governor, Barr. Peter Mbah, had equally commenced the construction of about 15 rural access roads leading to processing and aggregation centres across the state to improve agriculture supply chains.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of ESUT, Professor Aloysius-Michaels Okolie, during his opening remarks, called for more collaborations between the Ministry of Agriculture and tertiary institutions on areas of funding and policy formulation.

The Vice Chancellor equally revealed that the Management of ESUT is effecting fundamental changes at its Faculty of Agriculture to enable it embark on commercial agriculture.

Stressing the importance of World Food Day as a  veritable platform to push for attainment  of food security and the fundamental right to adequate nutrition for all, he added that ESUT had begun modalities towards signing an MoU with Texas Agriculture and Medicine University, USA on ranching training programme.

In his welcome address, the Dean, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources Management, ESUT, Professor Emeka Nze, regretted that Nigeria was off the track in meeting Sustainable Development Goal of zero hunger.

He stated  that an estimated 590 million people around the world will still suffer hunger in the next six years, calling for fostering of innovation, partnerships and increased investment in agricultural system.

He also lauded the support of ESUT Management to his faculty, promising to revamp the faculty for commercial agricultural production.