Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has flagged off the Abia State Farmers Support Programme, an initiative designed to empower 18,634 farmers across the state’s 17 local government areas with improved farm inputs.
Speaking at the launch held on Friday at the Umuahia Township Stadium, Otti said the programme is part of his administration’s efforts to boost food security, create jobs and drive economic growth through agriculture.
The governor said beneficiaries emerged from a comprehensive registration and verification exercise aimed at ensuring transparency and accountability.
“We started with data gathering because we wanted to map every farmer to a farm. We now have a comprehensive database of our farmers. If we cannot identify you, we won’t be able to support you,” he said.
Otti urged genuine farmers who are yet to register to take advantage of the ongoing exercise to qualify for future interventions, stressing that while the government will continue supporting smallholder farmers, its long-term focus is on commercial agriculture.
“We believe strongly that subsistence farming may not take us too far. While we are not disinterested in subsistence farming, we are aggressively promoting commercial agriculture because agriculture is a veritable business,” the governor said.
He also announced that the state government would provide free transportation for beneficiaries to move the distributed farm inputs to their farms.
The governor further revealed that the state’s improved investment climate has attracted a multinational palm oil company that has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Abia State Government to invest up to $200 million in the agricultural sector.
According to him, the investment is expected to strengthen food security, create jobs, reduce poverty and position Abia as a leading agricultural hub.
Abia State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Cliff Agbaeze, disclosed that the beneficiaries would receive improved varieties of cassava, rice, maize, plantain, sweet potato, pepper, tomato seedlings, as well as organic fertilisers.
He said 3,312 farmers would receive their inputs during the flag-off ceremony, while the remaining 15,322 beneficiaries would be served through their respective local government areas.
Agbaeze added that only farmers captured in the state’s database and verified with evidence of farmland qualified for the programme, noting that the government had fully paid for all the inputs and transportation costs.
In his keynote address, Executive Director of the National Root Crops Research Institute, Prof. Chiedozie Egesi, described the programme as a clear indication that agriculture has regained priority in Abia’s development agenda.
He commended Otti’s administration for establishing a farmers’ database and pledged the institute’s partnership in improving agricultural productivity across the state.
Also speaking, Vice Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Prof. Ursula Ngozi Akanwa, praised the initiative, saying it demonstrates the government’s commitment to agricultural transformation, improved rural livelihoods and sustainable economic development.
The event attracted government officials, agricultural stakeholders and other dignitaries.
