The project, she noted, has performed creditably with the establishment of two functional hatcheries in Enugu State, pointing out that day-old chick which was sold at N250 before, now costs N100 as a result of this initiative.
The deputy governor drew their attention the dwindling economic fortunes of the country, and promised that Enugu State would pay the outstanding counterpart contribution of N634,400,000.00 as soon as the financial resources of the State and that of the nation improved.
She also pleaded with the World Bank to extend the tenure of the projects by two years to enable the benefiting States to consolidate on the modest achievements made.
In his response to the speech, the Acting National Project Coordinator of the project, Mr. Sanusa Garba, stated that the project which was being implemented by the Federal Government and the World Bank in five Sates of the federation, namely, Enugu, Cross River, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos States, was aimed at improving commercial agriculture so as to increase the living standards of the poor masses.
He then advised the state government to consider paying the counterpart fund instalmentally so as not to deny farmers in the State the enormous benefits derivable from the commercial agriculture project.
