The South East Development Commission (SEDC) has commenced the development of a 200-hectare integrated model farm at Nomeh Unataeze in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The project, launched under the Commission’s South East Agro-Development Programme, is designed to increase food production, create employment, develop agricultural skills and strengthen the agricultural value chain across the region.
The pilot project is being implemented in partnership with the Enugu State Government. Unlike a conventional farm focused on one agricultural activity, the facility will combine dairy farming, poultry, fisheries, greenhouse production, fodder cultivation, agro-processing, mechanisation, renewable energy and practical agricultural training.
According to SEDC, the integrated model is intended to demonstrate how different areas of agriculture can work together to improve productivity and create additional economic opportunities.
The project will include a 200-head dairy herd and poultry production capacity of up to 20,000 birds per cycle, alongside fisheries infrastructure, fodder and silage production facilities and processing equipment.
SEDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Okoye, said the project was designed to change the way agriculture is approached in the South East by connecting land, technology, mechanisation, production, processing, training and markets.
He said the impact of the project would extend beyond the physical farm, particularly through opportunities for young people to acquire practical agricultural skills and for smallholder farmers to gain access to inputs, technical support, mechanisation and markets.
The programme will also include a training and out-grower component. The training centre is expected to accommodate between 100 and 120 trainees at a time, with practical instruction covering dairy husbandry, fodder and silage production, poultry, fisheries and agricultural mechanisation.
Under the initial out-grower programme, about 300 households within a 10-kilometre radius of the farm are expected to participate. The number is expected to increase as the project’s production capacity expands.
Participating farmers are expected to receive agricultural inputs, technical assistance and mechanisation services, while the farm will provide aggregation and market opportunities.
At full maturity, SEDC projects that the facility could support more than 1,000 direct jobs, in addition to employment and livelihood opportunities generated through seasonal activities and the wider agricultural network.
The Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, said food security requires more than simply increasing cultivated land. He stressed the importance of linking production with processing, markets, technology and skills development.
Enugu State Deputy Governor, Ifeanyi Ossai, who represented Governor Peter Mbah at the flag-off ceremony, described the project as an example of collaboration between the state government and SEDC.
SEDC said the Nomeh facility would serve as a pilot project for similar agricultural and agro-mechanisation interventions across the five South East states. The Commission plans to use lessons from the project to improve and replicate the model in other locations.
The host community has also pledged its support for the project, with community leaders expressing their willingness to work with SEDC and the Enugu State Government to ensure that the initiative creates opportunities for farmers and young people.
