The Southeast Development Commission (SEDC), in partnership with the Enugu State Government, has flagged off its Southeast Agro-Development Programme (SEADP) with a 200-hectare integrated agricultural development project at Nomeh Unateze in Nkanu East Local Government Area of the state.
The project is the first of the commission’s planned agro-development interventions across the 15 senatorial zones of the Southeast.
It is designed to transform agriculture and the rural economy through mechanisation, investment, processing, logistics, market access and export-oriented value chains.
The initiative is also expected to support food production, create jobs, develop agricultural skills and provide a model that can be replicated in other parts of the zone.
Governor Peter Mbah, who was represented at the event by his Deputy, Ifeanyi Ossai, said the project demonstrates the possibilities that could be achieved through collaboration between state governments and the SEDC.
Ossai said food security goes beyond providing food, noting that investment in agriculture can also address poverty, unemployment and insecurity while helping to expand the middle class.
‘When we attack agriculture by way of investing in it, it is because we believe it is the lowest-hanging fruit,’ he said, adding that agriculture can help move people from poverty to sufficiency and create sustainable economic opportunities.
The deputy governor said the state government was deliberately creating the infrastructure and security environment necessary to attract investments. He added that roads, healthcare, transport and security were critical components of the agricultural development ecosystem.
He urged the SEDC to develop a framework that would allow the Nomeh project to extend beyond its immediate location through partnerships with private-sector operators and farmers across the Enugu East Senatorial District.
According to him, such decentralisation would enable farmers in communities farther from Nomeh to participate in production, processing, logistics and transportation, thereby spreading the economic benefits of the investment.
Ossai also charged the commission to institutionalise the project in a manner that would ensure its sustainability beyond the tenure of its current leadership.
The Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, commended the SEDC and the Northcentral Development Commission for what he described as demonstrated capacity and vision among the newly established regional development commissions.
Momoh said the Nomeh project is in conformity with the policies of the Federal Government and aligns with the priorities of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, particularly the emphasis on food security.
‘What you are doing here is the Federal Government’s policy. We are transforming the policy into implementation now,’ the minister said.
He commended Governor Mbah for providing the land for the project, describing the 200 hectares earmarked for the initiative as a significant contribution to the development of agriculture and the rural economy.
Momoh said the project represented more than land development, as its integration of production and processing could help revive the commodity value-chain tradition for which the former Eastern Region was known.
He also praised the cooperation between the Enugu State Government, the SEDC and communities in the state, saying such collaboration would be critical to the success of regional development initiatives.
The minister urged the people of the host community and the wider region to support the project, while expressing hope that its impact would extend beyond Nomeh to other parts of the South East and Nigeria.
Earlier, SEDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mark Okoye described the flag-off as the beginning of the commission’s transition from planning and consultations to visible implementation.
Okoye said the Nomeh facility would incorporate agricultural production, mechanisation, processing and practical training, while an out-grower programme would enable farmers in surrounding communities to participate in the value chain.