The Abia State Government has commenced a comprehensive statewide enumeration and verification exercise to identify genuine farmers and ensure agricultural support reaches only those actively involved in farming.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Cliff Agbaeze, announced the initiative on Monday during a media briefing following the State Executive Council meeting in Umuahia.
Agbaeze explained that the programme was introduced to put an end to the diversion of agricultural interventions. He said the government would employ technology to guarantee that only authentic farmers benefit from any assistance.
According to him, data collected during the enumeration would be uploaded onto a cloud-based system, allowing real-time access to farmer information.
“With just one touch on my phone, I will be able to locate specific farmers,” he said.
“In this administration, you are not acknowledged as a farmer unless you have an existing, verifiable farm. We are geo-mapping every farm by capturing its coordinates and linking them directly to individual farmers before any form of intervention is granted.”
Agbaeze described the initiative as part of the government’s commitment to ending politically motivated interventions and ensuring that support is targeted exclusively at those genuinely engaged in farming.
He further pointed out that all participants in the state’s agricultural empowerment programme, which is being facilitated in collaboration with CSS Farms, were carefully selected from every Local Government Area.
The Commissioner revealed that the government had provided direct funding to the beneficiaries and was monitoring their progress closely.
“Feedback indicates that about 90 per cent, or even more, of the trained farmers are performing very well,” he said.
Agbaeze reaffirmed the government’s determination to maintain rigorous monitoring and verification processes as part of broader efforts to drive agricultural development and strengthen food security across Abia State.
