I Will Make Enugu Net Supplier, Exporter of Rice- Ayogu Eze
All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for Enugu State, Senator Ayogu Eze, has said that he will turn the state into a big supplier and exporter of rice if elected into office in 2019.
Noting that the state produces the best quality rice from Uzouwani, known as Adani rice, Eze said he has plans to take the production level to high heights that will cover not just the country alone but also for export.
In his ‘Manifesto for an uncommon Transformational Leadership’, Eze promised to first revive Adarice project by supporting rice farmers to go into mechanized farming to boost mass production of the grain product.
He said he will modernize the irrigation infrastructure to be able to improve on rice production in what will make Enugu ultimately a net exporter of rice.
Ayogu added, “our agricultural programme shall focus on developing a model that will guarantee the farmer a ready market as well as adequate and fair pricing for his or her primary produce”.
Observing that one of the major challenges to farmers was lack of access road in the rural areas where farming activities are carried out, he assured that his administration will address this problem if voted into power.
According to him, “some of the farm produce are perishable, thus the farmers lose a significant amount of their produce before they could get them out to the city, where they can obtain a fair price for their produce. We will focus on building rural communities and providing them access to markets where they can sell their farm produce at a very competitive price”.
Eze also said his administration will partner secondary and tertiary consumers of these produce to set up off-taker value-adding enterprises that will strengthen the value chain and boost productivity.
“These outfits will turn the farm produce into semi-processed goods, thereby packaging them for export and consumption by local industries as well. We shall divide the state into produce zones according to each area’s comparative advantage”, he said.
On the issue of infrastructural development, the governorship candidate said his administration will embark on opening up the rural areas and supply electricity to every community in the state.
He equally assured that his administration will ensure ceaseless water supply to the rural communities and urban centres while at the same time creating an arterial motorway network that will weld every part of the state into an unbroken highway chain.
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