…expresses readiness to commence food revolution in Igboland
In a deliberate bid to ensure that Ndigbo cuts off its reliance on the north for food, the Igbo Farm Project has vowed to take necessary steps towards cultivating food crops that would enable the South East have sufficient food in the next years to come ‘rather than toying with the idea.’
The group, in its quest to make Igboland produce sufficient food rather than depend on other regions for food supplies, said it would “kick start massive agro culture through agricultural cooperative unions across the length of Igbo land. Going into agro supplement, agro input supplies and agro-related research, consultancy, distribution and export.”
They stated that in order to achieve the group’s agricultural programme, lands would be acquired across the entire states of the South East “and target the most popular and common cash crops that are mainly imported from outside Igbo land, and cultivate them in commercial quantity,” and set up agro offices in the various states and the various senatorial zones.
In a communiqué signed by its chairman and founder, Chief Peter Agba Kalu after the meeting of the executive members of the group, the Igbo Farm Project said it came about the decision after threats of starving the Igbo nation of food supplies if the controversial Ruga settlement policy is not implemented in the region.
According to the group’s statement, “On Saturday, 21st September, 2019, executive members of IGBO FARM PROJECT in a meeting hosted by the group founder Peter Agba Kalu at his Aba residence, met and decided that now, not tomorrow, is the time we have to stop toying with the idea of making Igbo land food sufficient in the next 10 years. But radically kick the idea into action.
“To achieve this, we are going to quietly acquire lands across the 5 eastern states and target the most popular and common cash crops that are mainly imported from outside Igbo land, and cultivate them in commercial quantity. We were able to arrive at this after some agro experts among us debunk the lie that some agricultural crops cannot do well in the east.
“It will be recalled that Igbo Farm Project was a child of necessity that came out of the retreat of starving Igbos food supplies, until we surrender our land for RUGA. Though, the treat came from some group of individuals, but remembering similar event during the Civil War, we found it wise to take this task upon us, and rally our people back to farm.
“Besides, we have far better agro land than the rest of the country, why do we keep on depending on the north for our food chain supply? There’s nothing that grows in the north that cannot grow here. I mean absolutely nothing. Our land is far better than theirs. We have lots of rainy season and rivers all over whereas they depend on water irrigation.
“Therefore, we decided to launch this program, so that while we are doing the big time farm project, we start and encourage a micro farm progress across every length and corner of Igbo land.”
The group noted that after bringing into consideration the number of lorries delivering food crops in Igboland daily from the north “and the millions of naira, that ought to be invested in Igbo land that goes with it, we decided to change that trend through awareness and encouragement of big scale and micro farming across Igbo land.”
“To achieve that, we have already started bringing so many hybrid trees, crops and vegetables into Igbo land. Seeds like onions, carrot, cabbage, etc, that were thought in the past not to do well in Igbo land, has been tested and the results were excellent. Therefore, they’re available against next planting season.
“We looked into dry season farming and decided to draw our people’s awareness on its importance in the agro economy circle.
“We set up committees to draw a plan to make sure end users are found for every single agro input coming out of Igbo, to make sure our farmers don’t run at lost after harvest.
“We equally decided to reach out to Igbos across the globe to encourage them to invest into farming at home.
“To this end, we decided to establish a multi purpose farm across the states to enable our people invest into it and reap their profits yearly. By so doing, encourage our vision of food sufficiency in Igbo land,” the group stated.
On what it would do to prevent herdsmen and their cattle from invading and destroying crops on farmlands, the group said: “the issues of cattle herdsmen destroying our farmlands did not escape our attention, some of the decisions taken in that regard is not meant for public consumption. But the most important decision taken in that regard was our decision to crash the cost of protein feeds, through an organic feed system discovered by one of our experts, with raw materials 100% available in every corner of Igbo land. Because we see this as a challenge that confronts our generation, which we MUST RISE UP TO ITS CHALLENGE.
“Starting from January, 2020, we are going to open an equity cow farm in Igbo land where any Igbo man can bring one or as many cows or Efi Igbo he or she can into the farm. Drop it there as your investment to this project, don’t mind about the feeding, we will take care of that. We will start from an undisclosed spot and within the next 5 years, spread it across all the zones in Igbo land. This cow ranching culture will help curtail cow grazing culture in entire Igbo land.”
Pleading on Igbo farmers and stakeholders irrespective of their social, religious and political status to support the project, the group said: “Knowing that we are Igbo; creative, hardworking, full of ideas. We decided to rise to this challenge and conquer by appealing to all Igbos across the globe to join force with us in this regardless of yours social, religious and political affiliations. We took this step because we don’t want to depend on the government for this vision.
“The purpose of forming this group is to start an agro revolution throughout east and we can do it. The fire is already burning in us.
“We are going to organize seminars and the seminar is going to be action action action. We bring in agro experts to impact knowledge to our people. If Israel from the desert can export foods to the world, why can’t we with such a blessed land do it.
“We will bring experts to train our people on snail, grass cutter, fish, mushroom, rabbit, pig, goat, cow, poultry farming etc, to enable us stop totally our protein dependence on the north in any form.
“We will find our the market closest to our farmers to enable them sell their products. Then through this cooperative, we help you write proposals and access funds from banks, international agencies and government.
“We will visit churches, town unions and to join this vision. We will not stop at that. We will set up a monitoring team to supervise the project. This is the greatest challenge of our generation today, to feed our children and safeguard our land to for our children, the way our fathers and forefathers did for us. And we must rise up to this calling. Be assured that God is with us in this project.
“We want people from various states to identify self and form committees. We may have started small, but this vision is going to reshape Igbo land in a major way. If you have lands for farming of crops and rearing of animals, and if you have funds to invest in Agro Business, let’s know how we can help you?
“We call on communities and unions that have farming lands lying waste in Igbo to invite us, we can go into joint cooperative farming with them, provided their youths will safeguard the plantation.
“It is gradually this way that we can cause the agro revolution through advance research and technology in Igbo land.”
