THE Edo Government said on Tuesday that it would, in partnership with Elephant Group PLC, grow 1,155 hectares of cassava in the state.

Gov. Godwin Obaseki, stated this when the group, a private concern, paid him a courtesy visit at the Government House, Benin.

Obaseki said the cassava project was in line with his administration’s plan to create over 200,000 jobs in four years especially through agriculture.

He described the planned project as a model of job creation for the youths in the state, adding that his administration would provide the necessary infrastructure for its actualisation.

“We will support the cassava project in terms of infrastructure and construction of roads to link the farms for easy evacuation of the produce.

“We also need to bring the Benin Electric Distribution Company (BEDC) to give power supply to the cassava processing facilities,” the governor said.

Earlier, the leader of the group, Dr Tony Bello, said about 420 cassava farmers had already been drawn from the three senatorial districts of the state for the project.

According to him, the farmers will be engaged in the pilot scheme of the project, which is targeted at producing 20 tonnes of cassava per hectare.

Bello said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) were ready to invest N214 million in the project.

He said the investment would be under the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Federal Government.

“We are investing about $6 million in cassava transformation for staple food in Edo state.

“We want to do 850 of the 1,155 hectares in the first phase.

“We pray that the state engages the at least 100 Edo agriculture entrepreneurs in the venture,” he said. (NAN)

– Apr. 3, 2018 @ 15:29 GMT

AE