{"id":190,"date":"2020-12-17T19:11:44","date_gmt":"2020-12-17T18:11:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezeanaukwu.com\/blog\/?p=190"},"modified":"2020-12-18T12:39:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T11:39:47","slug":"angolan-ambassador-to-nigeria-pays-homage-to-eze-ana-ukwu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezeanaukwu.com\/blog\/index.php\/2020\/12\/17\/angolan-ambassador-to-nigeria-pays-homage-to-eze-ana-ukwu\/","title":{"rendered":"Angolan Ambassador to Nigeria pays homage to Eze Ana-Ukwu<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\u2026as Eze Ana-ukwu receives the Alluvial Agriculture MD<\/p>\n\n\n\n
$\"Angolan$
From left: The former Deputy Governor of Anambra State; Dr. Chinedu Emeka, The Angolan Ambassador to Nigeria, Eustaquio Quibato, His Royal Highness, Igwe Dr Oranu Chris Chidume, Eze Ana-Ukwu, Eze Igulube of Omor, Chief Oliver Okeke, Chairman of Josan Integrated Farms and Rice Mill and the Managing Director of Mastercard Foundation\/Alluvial, Dimieari Von Kemedi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
His Royal Highness, Igwe Dr Oranu Chris Chidume, Eze Ana-Ukwu, Eze Igulube of Omor yesterday, played host to the Angolan Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr. Eustaquio Quibato,\u00a0who came alongside the Managing Director of Mastercard Foundation\/Alluvial, Dimieari Von Kemedi and Chief Oliver Okeke, Chairman of Josan Integrated Farms and Rice Mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His Highness, as required by tradition and in the usual traditional parlance, received the guests by breaking the Kola-nuts, as is customary in Igbo tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While thanking the Igwe for hosting him, Eustaquio maintained that it was a great pleasure to be honoured by His Highness through the traditional reception accorded to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe traditional reception accorded me shows one of our main values as Africans. Being here I feel like I am at home. Since my landing in the East, I\u2019ve been telling my brother, JOSAN, that I really feel like I am at home. The environment, the culture, what you people are cultivating here, it makes it look like I am in my village\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He averred that the relationship between Angola and the Eastern part of Nigeria has been a very cordial one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany Nigerians, about 90% of them, staying in Angola are originally from the Eastern part of Nigeria. So, I am also representing their constituency. Therefore, I am one of you. This is why I am here\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stated that major part of the reason for visiting Anambra state was to learn more about the culture of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been seeing a lot. I\u2019ve seen quite a lot of initiatives from agro-businesses here, particularly in the field of cassava and yam which are major crops in the villages where I come from\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He thanked the Igwe Omor for hosting him and promised to send the Igwe\u2019s regards to the government and people of Angola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his remarks, the Managing Director of Mastercard Foundation\/Alluvial, Dimieari Von Kemedi, expressed his delight in being at the palace again to brief His Highness on activities the foundation had been carrying out since the last time they met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEarlier this year in July, Alluvial signed a contract agreement with Mastercard Foundation to support 65,000 farmers in eight states of the country. 80% of these farmers are women and 80% of them are young people. As part of that mandate, we are expected also to spread the community block model as a basis for agricultural development. Not only within those eight states, but across the entire country and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd since then, we have entered into yet another arrangement with IDH Trade which will be announced soon to support 10,000 farmers in Taraba and Adamawa states. Making it 75,000 farmers that we will be supporting across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYesterday we were at the Ministry of Agriculture in Awka. We had very good discussions. We also met the ANSIPA. We are now developing programme for Anambra State to reach at least 10,000 farmers in Anambra State. What we have also decided to do is not to wait till that programme is developed. We are targeting the next season to work with farmers that will produce the feed stock that will go to the giant mill. But we don\u2019t want to wait till June or July before we start. We want to start two pilot projects. One in rice and the other in cassava. Hopefully, one of those pilot programmes will take place in this kingdom. We are very pleased to be associated with the kingdom and we would like to continue this working relationship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust to add a bit more in terms of details about the kind of support we provide for farmers. The relationship we will enter into with the farmers in the LAIP area will be a long-term relationship. It is not going to be for one year or two years. It\u2019s a long-term programme. It\u2019s commercially sustainable. That means we will provide support for farmers by way of mechanization, seeds as well as access to the market. So, they have nothing to worry about. We are providing full range of support including insurance as well. We will also provide extension services. This will be on a consistent basis over five years and beyond. It is a very comprehensive programme including financing as well\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He stated that the grant agreement as he mentioned earlier is $20.4 Million with MasterCard Foundation to support farmers in the eight states as mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reacting to the availability of the platform Alluvial has on ground through which farmers could be reached and participate in their programmes, Mr Kemedi stated that once they leave the palace, they would undertake the inspection of some of the facilities for intake of paddy at the giant mill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat will be the first place where all the activities will revolve around. I believe that some of the farmers are still looking to sell their paddies. We can immediately start an aggregation programme as early as this weekend once we look at the facilities and then we will establish channels of communication with cooperatives. We have a way of reaching and working with the cooperatives. We will immediately start an aggregation programme from this late season so that the farmers can see that they can bring their paddies and we will immediately begin to buy and onward to JOSAN\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Responding to the desired state of the rice before the aggregation, whether parboiled or fresh from farm, he maintained that it was best brought fresh from farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe were parboiling when JOSAN was trying to sort out their parboiling equipment. But that has been resolved. So, we want the products fresh from the farm. In that case, we will immediately start with the aggregation programme. That will establish the relationship with the farmers. We will learn a lot about the systems here and begin to plan towards the next planting season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike I mentioned, for cassava farmers, we will start a pilot project with them immediately here in Omor. We just need the farmers and the land. We will start with 50 hectares and 50 women as a pilot. We can do more than that depending on the land that is available. We have the stems from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) which is TME 419. The yield is about 25 and 45 depending on how well the farmers utilize it. The period of maturity is nine months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight now the stems we have are for up to 500 hectares. So, I only mentioned 50 hectares because it depends on how many hectares of lands and how many farmers are available. We will kick off during the rainy season. But we will do the registration now and get a warehouse somewhere to store some of the inputs like fertilizers and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Speaking to the press after hosting the visitors, His Highness thanked them for coming to Omor and for the wonderful initiatives they are bringing such that when implemented, they would revolutionize agriculture in Omor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe had an interactive session. And like you are all aware, we are building bridges, bridges across Africa. We are building bridges across Africa in agricultural revolution. This is because of where we found ourselves. Where you have the agriculture untapped, unharnessed, and with this type of visit, we are sure that by the time we share experiences, and with the results of such shared experiences, we are going to harmonize our agricultural activities, in such a way that the value-chain will create more jobs for those for the youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other dignitaries present during the visit were the former Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chinedu Emeka, the state Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Anambra State, representing the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Chief Arthur Mbuba among others.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2026as Eze Ana-ukwu receives the Alluvial Agriculture MD His Royal Highness, Igwe Dr Oranu Chris Chidume, Eze Ana-Ukwu, Eze Igulube of Omor yesterday, played host to the Angolan Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency, Dr. Eustaquio Quibato,\u00a0who came alongside the Managing Director of Mastercard Foundation\/Alluvial, Dimieari Von Kemedi and Chief Oliver Okeke, Chairman of Josan Integrated<\/p>\n
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