Songhai in collaboration with the Master Card and Regina Pacis Foundation on Saturday distributed start-up kits to the newly trained farmers by the organization to advance modern agriculture practices in Ebonyi State.
The start-up kits included fingerings, buckets, baskets, shovels, barrows, knives, cutlasses, tar-pollens, poles, basins, pipes, booters, rods, frying pans, and livestock feedings, among other agriculture facilities.
Handing over the start-up kits to the beneficiaries at Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, the Co-founder of Regina Pacis Foundation, Lady Mary Nkwegu, said the farmers were trained in different departments of modern Agriculture practices; including fishery, market garden, agro-forestry, poultry, piggery, food processing, and other related fields that can promote food security an
Lady Nkwegu, therefore, charged the beneficiaries numbering over 27 to make good use of the knowledge acquired during their training for about three months by the Songhai and its collaborating partners, to become self-relevant, wealth creators and employers of labour anywhere they found themselves in the society.
"Remember you were sent to Songhai farm to go and learn modern agriculture practice. I want you to make good use of what you were taught. You should practice what you learnt during the three months of training and you will become self-reliant, wealth creators and employers of labour - you will be the one sharing money with others," Nkwegu said.
She urged the beneficiaries not to sell any of the agriculture inputs, noting that many of their predecessors sold the start-up kits when given to them in past but later were left with regret after seeing their colleagues booming well even at the time of the economic downturn.
She encouraged them to be bold in modern agriculture practice in line with the areas of their choice, as according to her, if the beneficiaries utilize the knowledge acquired during their training would distinguish them and their respective careers favourably for human benefit.
"Try as much as you can to practice modern agriculture because it will sell you to the world for human benefit favourably. I am on it and I know the benefits, because am enjoying it profitably well. There is no civil servant who can compare myself to me because I eat as many times as I want to eat. Call it food, call it vegetables among others, I'm healthy despite my age and I'm still strong in modern agriculture practice.
"So, emulate the gesture from this organization and the collaborating partners, which will strengthen you more, by showing the same gesture to your neighbour(s), the state and Nigeria at large," Lady Nkwegu advised.
The Administration Officer of Songhai Joseph Farm in Abakaliki, Arthur Bankole said the distribution of the agriculture facilities to their beneficiaries has been in batches after their intensive training for three months by the organization.
He said the gesture was part of encouraging the newly trained farmers to promote modern agriculture and alleviate poverty in Ebonyi State and beyond.
Past graduates from Songhai Farm both in Abakaliki and Owerri including Ifeoma Dandy, Paul Nwibo, and Ekuma Sidney, among others, testified that the start kits given to them by the organization have opened their eyes in terms of modern agriculture practices and economic development. Some of them affirmed that after receiving the agricultural incentives from the organization, have recorded windfalls in their various areas of disciplines including crop farming, market garden, poultry, piggery, and food processing, among others. They urged the new beneficiaries to utilize the gesture to better their life.
The new beneficiaries of the Songhai including Rebecca Nwedu, Helen Igwe, Angela Nworie, Friday Igwe, Eunice Agha, and Peace Udeogu, among others, have commended the Songhai alongside Master Card and Regina Pacis Foundation for the agricultural incentives, assuring that they would utilize them to make the organizations proud.
