Gov. Mbah,
The Enugu State government has launched the “One Ward, One Smart Farm Estate” initiative, aiming to revolutionize agriculture and encourage widespread farming among residents.
Speaking on Monday at the pilot project site in Akpawfu, Nkanu East Local Government Area, Mr. Ubru, who led an inspection team on behalf of Governor Peter Mbah, emphasized the project’s transformative impact.
The initiative, backed by a N2 billion allocation in the 2025 budget, will establish 260 Smart Farm Estates across all political wards in the state.
It is a key component of Governor Mbah’s grassroots agricultural revolution.
Mr. Ubru highlighted the importance of step-down town hall meetings to ensure farmers in various council areas take full advantage of the opportunity.
He also called on individuals, cooperative societies, corporate organizations, and development agencies like IFAD-VCDP and FADAMA to collaborate in advancing the initiative.
Explaining the benefits, he said, “The One Ward, One Smart Farm Estate Initiative will be a game-changer for the people, as the governor is putting everything in place to ensure people receive its maximum benefits. It will be done in hectares of land, where all types of farming activities such as crop farming and exotic/economic plants such as cocoa, cassava, sorghum, vegetables, exotic pepper, and spices, among others, will be practiced.”
He noted that the state government would actively collaborate with local councils to ensure the project’s efficiency and encourage youth participation, given its potential to tackle unemployment, hunger, and food insecurity.
“The One Ward, One Smart Farm Estate initiative will solve so many issues, particularly unemployment among youths in localities, hunger, food insecurity, and the knowledge gap on modern agriculture practices, as workshops will be organised at local levels,” he added.
Mr. Ubru also commended the consultant and his team for their commitment to the project.
“I must confess that the zeal demonstrated here is in consonance with the aspirations of His Excellency, Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, on all projects targeted towards shoring up the state’s economy, especially agriculture and agro-industrialisation projects.”
Similarly, the governor’s senior personal assistant on agriculture, Mike Ogbuekwe, explained that the initiative was designed to diversify Enugu’s economy through agriculture and agro-industrialization, ultimately increasing the state’s internally generated revenue.
“The Smart Farm Estates are expected to grow local needed crops as well as special crops and other agricultural produce for export, such as sorghum and Ose Nsukka, the special aromatic and ornamental yellow pepper of Nsukka,” he said.
Ogbuekwe also revealed that Nigerian Breweries had approached the state government to explore a potential partnership for the supply of sorghum, which is a key raw material in its production process.
The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Victor Ngwu, stressed the need for ministry staff with expertise in communication and documentation to be involved in the project to ensure accurate data collection.
Providing further details, the consultant to the Smart Farm Estate pilot project, Friday Nnaji, said the pilot phase covers 200 hectares and will be allocated to 200 farmers, each assigned a specific crop to cultivate.
“The pilot Smart Farm Estate has two entrance points located at its opposite points, and there will be an unstoppable electricity supply as well as water supply in the smart farm with a plan for irrigation as well as adequate security.”
He added that perimeter fencing was already underway, and the central warehouse for farmers was nearing completion.
“As you can see, we have commenced the perimeter fencing of the whole farm area, while the central warehouse for the farmers is already constructed above lintel level,” Nnaji said.
