Food Sufficiency: Akwa Ibom rice farmers seek land, government support

Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, RFAN, has appealed to villages in Akwa Ibom for land and state government support to increase rice production to a commercial quantity.

State Chairman of the group, Uduak Jacob, who made the call in an interview with our correspondent in Uyo, Tuesday, September 16, said with adequate support from the state government, Akwa Ibom can feed the South South zone and beyond.

According to him, the state has sufficient land and fertile soil, which can grow rice in commercial quantities, hence the appeal for land and government support.

”There’s no part of Akwa Ibom that cannot grow rice. We have the technical know-how; we have the manpower; we have sufficient land, the only things we need for increased production are: resources, fertilisers, seedlings, equipment and a grant.”

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According to him, the availability of land and adequate support from the state government will encourage more farmers, increase production levels, ensure food sufficiency and security, and make Akwa Ibom a leading rice-producing state in the region.

Apart from ensuring food sufficiency, he said, government investment and intervention in rice production will reduce dependency on imported food and save foreign exchange. It will also create jobs and boost the state economy.

He assured rice Farmers that the ongoing rice farming initiative will swell their revenue, even as he urged the state governor, Umo Eno, to look inwards into the well-being of rice Farmers in the state.