By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
The Cross River State government has received a total of N68 million to boost food production and intensify the fight against hunger and starvation in the state.
Wife of the governor of Cross River State, Mrs Eyoawan Otu, revealed this to our correspondent after a media parley with journalists on Wednesday in Calabar.
The amount released to the state is part of the effort by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, through his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, to intensify the fight against hunger and starvation, through Mr. President’s Renewed Hope Initiative project.
Speaking on behalf of wife of the governor of Cross River State, Mrs. Bassey Otu, the Senior Special Adviser to wife of the governor on Administration, Dr. Comfort Oko, stated that the RHI is empowering 200 women in the agriculture value chain.
She said, “In Cross River State, this programme will carter for 200 women across the state with at least one woman drawn from each of the wards in the state.
“It provides each participant with an opportunity to expand their agriculture venture, while contributing to local and national food production.”
Otu’s wife stressed that the agriculture initiative is aimed at fostering sustainable agricultural practices and enhancing food security across the nation.
She maintained that the programme would provide each participant with an opportunity to expand their agriculture venture, so that they can as well contribute their quota to local and national food production for food security in the country.
She added, “The state shall be empowering 60 homes across the state. Awareness campaigns and information sharing about the benefits of having a home garden and how to make it efficient will be available to the participants.
“By the end of the programme, each youth trained in fishery will be empowered with 200 juveniles, fiber tank, two bags of feeds and medications.
“Those for poultry production will go home with 50 day-old chicks, two bags of starter feeds and bags bags of fisher feeds each.
“Those for baking and confectionaries will also be empowered accordingly.
“Every home must key into the garden initiative basically, this programme is to encourage families to produce their own food at home, while promoting the consumption of nutritious foods, to reduce hunger and enhance food and nutrition security.”
