Anambra farmers set for foreign trips as trainers arrive

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State says his government will support farmers in the state during the upcoming planting season to boost their production especially now that the state has a market for perishable export.                   

Obiano made this known when he received a consortium of European Union Trainers for Farmers on the exportation of Perishable Agricultural produce who called on him at the Governor's Lodge, Amawbia.                  

The team include experts on Agric Export from Eagle Solution Services limited, UK, Boosh Produce Global Network and ABX world.                           

They were in the state to kickstart a capacity building training for the state farmers to enable them effectively key into the new export initiatives for increased income and employment generation.                                             

Governor Obiano while welcoming the delegation, noted that the numerous landmarks recorded in the state's Agricultural Sector was due to the clear roadmark which his administration has charted for Agricultural revolution in the state.           

According to him, the blueprint has enabled his administration streamline crop belts and identify real farmers which government can support in the area of provision of seedlings and heavy-duty Agric equipment and Land provision and preparation, a development he noted will greatly aid the export arrangement.                         

The Governor further explained that the training was designed to take place on site so as to provide on-the-spot evaluation of the prevailing environment in the area adding that it is expected that the exercise will include the transfer of expertise and technical support to Agric Extension officers in the state so as to guarantee its sustainability.                                      

Earlier, the Commissioner for Agric Mechanisation, Processing and Export, said a major target of the training is to create traceability, a prerequisite platform in the export arrangement that identifies the source of the export produce and the farmers producing them, adding that the state government is working in partnership with the quarantine group to certify all the produce to be exported.                    

The Managing Director, Boosh Produce Global Network, Mr Babatunde Ajibulu observed that with the kind of attention which the present administration is giving its Agricultural sector, the state is on course towards becoming a major exporter of Agric produce in Africa and assured that they are committed to supporting the initiative.                                               

For her part,  Mrs Olukemi Atijosan, the MD of Eagles Solution Services ltd, UK, one of the partners in the project, explained that the training is to empower the farmers to understand the basic certification requirements for their products especially during the process of moving them from the production point to the offtake area.

In a vote of thanks, the Managing Director of ABX World, the Coordinating company for the Export business, Captain John Okakpu while describing Agriculture as the most viable and sustainable way of reviving the country's economy, thanked Governor Obiano for his Agricultural  vision that is already yielding dividends.