From Kemi Yesufu
The House of Representatives has backed the call for the Federal Government to establish farm settlements in federal constituencies in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This is as the House on Wednesday passed for second reading, “a Bill for an Act to Amend the National Agricultural Land Development Authority Act, 2004 to Increase its Membership and Functions for Strategic Operations and Interests and to Vest in the Authority Powers to Establish Farm Settlements across the Country for the Purposes of Attaining Food Sufficiency and to Establish the National Farm Settlement and Youth Empowerment Agency to create a Mechanised System of Farming”.
Lawmakers expressed support for the bill, sponsored by a member, Evelyn Oboro, as two other members, observed that the fact that majority of the farms would be run by trained youths made the proposed facilities veritable means of creating thousands of jobs.
Speaking to Saturday Sun on the bill, Oboro, who is the member representing Opke/Sapele/Uvwie Federal Constituency of Delta State, said there was a need to enact a law to further promote agro-entrepreneurship, especially among young people and women. The lawmaker added that a law backing the establishment of farm settlements, where large and medium up-takers can do business with female and young farmers, would go a long way in stemming the rural- urban drift, as well as reduce poverty in low income communities.
“We cannot attain food security, reduce poverty, create thousands of jobs like we desperately need to, neither can we earn much needed foreign exchange by continuing with the situation where our farmers sell poorly packaged food items at subsistence level”, she said.
Oboro maintained that the National Assembly must support moves by states and the Federal Government to diversify the economy through hitherto overlooked sectors like agriculture, tourism and ICT.