Ikonne: NALDA’s Enhanced Food Security, Empowered Rural Communities

James Emejo in Abuja

Executive Secretary/ Chief Executive, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Prince Paul Ikonne, Friday expressed fulfillment over the various agricultural initiatives undertaken by the authority to better positioned the country to achieve the food security mandates of the current administration.

He said the Institute of Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship which is currently being established across the country’s six geo-political zones would soon commence operations.

Speaking at an interactive session with journalists in Abuja, he specifically noted that the first of the institutes will commence in September in Aba, Abia State, fully equipped with facilities needed to build a formidable school of agribusiness.

NALDA was set up by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to reclaim the federal government’s abandoned lands across the country and put them back into use to revive rural economies among others.

Ikonne revealed that the institutes boast of a completed 600-capacity student sport complex, two administrative blocks, libraries and laboratories, a clinic, nine solar powered boreholes, 30 room-hostel and four classroom blocks with a total of 24 classrooms.

The Aba campus also holds a 50,000-capacity fish pond, poultry pens, 5,000 capacity snail house, fish hatchery, 50 cage grass cutter pens, crop fields, three tractors, hand held harvesters and nine boreholes to cater for the needs of both the farm and that of the institute.

He said the objective was to transform agribusiness into a modern and appealing career path for the youths through a combination of practical training, specialised curriculum, cutting-edge technology, and entrepreneurial education in the field of agribusiness and agronomic practices.

He said, “The one in Ogun is 99 per cent to completion and they will commence academic session by next year. The institute in Katsina is 89 per cent completed.

“So, these are projects that we initiated with the idea and knowledge that if we don’t catch them young into agriculture, agricultural production and agribusiness, Nigeria will lose farmers as the current generation of farmers are aging and retiring.”

“And this is why we came up with the NALDA Institute of agribusiness and entrepreneurship from primary to secondary to OND level”

Ikonne also explained that the authority embarked on the distribution of inputs including seeds, herbicides, and pesticides, enough for the cultivation of one hectare of farm land across the country.

Beneficiaries of the initiative, largely mainly women and youths, were trained on best agronomic practices for improved yields with over 10 states benefitting so far.

He said, “NALDA also embarked on seed distribution. This initiative began last year, we started distributing inputs where we give out bags of 10 kg that will help farmers to cultivate a hectare fully with all the inputs required for the cultivation of maize, rice and beans.”

Among other initiatives, he said the NALDA Integrated Farm Estates, were established to create jobs opportunities along the agricultural value chain from production, processing to marketing.

The farm estates are currently in Katsina, Imo and Borno States. He said the facility in Borno was used to resettle returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and engage them gainfully in agriculture.

Further detailing the achievements of the authority under his watch, Ikonne disclosed that NALDA is currently collating data of farmers in the country to ensure comprehensive data base and ensure that only genuine farmers get needed government support.

He said, “Now one critical thing that we have achieved here in NALDA is creating the data bank of farmers, Nigeria has never had a farmer-based data bank. So, every year, agricultural planning becomes a challenge because you don’t know who you’re planning for.

“Now that I came up with that concept and partnered with the DSS to create a data bank, we have the server for capturing real farmers from various local governments and that process is ongoing. We have started capturing them; as we give them input, we capture them and capture their land.”

Ikonne, who is serving a second term in office, may soon be handling over to a newly appointed successor.

Nonetheless, he called for continuity and sustenance of the laudable agricultural initiatives for the growth of the agriculture sector.

He said, “If continued, definitely, we will achieve food production. So, continuity is key. Agriculture requires infrastructure. And then from infrastructure you continue because it’s a business that you must be patient with, not something that you will put in today and you expect to harvest immediately.

“And that that is why continuity is key in this thing. So, that is what we look forward to and with continuity, I bet you we will get there.”