By BANNERNEWS Reporter, Calabar
The Cross River State Government has secured 13,000 hectares of land across 12 communities for large-scale agricultural production and is seeking investors to establish processing factories close to farming clusters to boost local value addition.
The Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation Development, Mr. Johnson Ebokpo, disclosed this during a press conference in Calabar while unveiling Project Grow, a six-year agricultural development initiative designed to link farmers directly to structured markets.
Ebokpo said the programme aims to move farmers beyond subsistence production by creating reliable market opportunities and attracting agro-processing industries to the state.
According to him, the government has legally acquired the land through agreements with host communities and approved the payment of rents for the 13,000 hectares earmarked for the cultivation of grains, cocoa, pineapples, bananas, plantains and other crops.
He explained that the state is deliberately encouraging investors to establish processing facilities near production centres to reduce post-harvest losses, create jobs and increase the value of agricultural produce before it reaches the market.
“We need these crops and grains to be processed locally. That is why we are intentionally attracting investors and processors to the state,” Ebokpo said.
He added that the government is strengthening the state’s Ease of Doing Business framework to make Cross River more attractive to agribusiness investors.
The commissioner further disclosed that the state has partnered with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, to provide technical support, improved inputs and advisory services for farmers and agro-processors.
“We also want to increase the offtake capacity for our smallholder farmers and stimulate greater participation in both primary and secondary processing of agricultural produce,” he said.
Speaking on the initiative, the Director of Project Grow, Mr. Denis Ikpali, described the programme as a market systems development intervention aimed at addressing longstanding structural challenges in the agricultural sector.
According to him, the project forms part of the administration’s broader strategy to transform agriculture from a subsistence activity into a viable economic sector capable of creating jobs, attracting investment, improving incomes and strengthening food security.
Ikpali announced that one of the project’s major achievements is an offtake agreement with Flour Mills of Nigeria for the supply of 2,000 metric tonnes of soybeans and 20,000 metric tonnes of maize.
He said the agreement is valued at about N18 billion and is expected to provide a guaranteed market for participating farmers while encouraging increased agricultural production across the state.
